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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. face — to point toward
  3. file — a tool
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the sport
  6. row — a line
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. face — part of the head
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. file — a line of people
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. file — a document
  13. pit — a hole
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. court — of law
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. face — to confront
  19. stem — to come from
  20. row — to paddle
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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