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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. capital — a city
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. pop — soda
  7. content — happy
  8. face — to confront
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. content — the amount
  11. face — to point toward
  12. capital — money
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. face — part of the head
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pop — to visit
  19. stem — to come from
  20. pop — music
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. ground — a position

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