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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. hand — in cards
  3. chip — for betting
  4. capital — a city
  5. chip — to eat
  6. prune — to trim
  7. face — part of the head
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. hand — help
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. present — the time now
  13. object — to protest
  14. present — a gift
  15. prune — to trim
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. capital — money
  19. object — a thing
  20. face — to confront
  21. object — an aim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. face — to point toward
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com