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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. scale — in music
  3. pass — a permit
  4. face — to point toward
  5. scale — size or range
  6. capital — money
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. net — in sport
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. net — after costs
  14. date — the fruit
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. net — for catching
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitch — completely
  20. face — to confront
  21. capital — a city
  22. face — part of the head
  23. file — a document
  24. pitch — a sports field

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