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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 124 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — to come down
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. roll — a list
  5. pound — a weight
  6. face — to confront
  7. face — to point toward
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. capital — money
  15. land — a country
  16. land — ground
  17. date — the fruit
  18. pop — music
  19. face — part of the head
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — soda
  23. roll — a cake
  24. pound — to hit hard

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