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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 116 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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. shower — to wash
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. field — farmland
  9. tear — from crying
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. shower — rain
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. face — to confront
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. tear — to rip
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. face — to point toward

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