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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. face — to point toward
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. prune — to trim
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. shower — rain
  14. face — part of the head
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. face — to confront
  17. capital — money
  18. sharp — clever
  19. shower — to wash
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of a tree

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