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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. kid — child
  3. face — part of the head
  4. suit — in cards
  5. spell — a short time
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spell — magic
  9. suit — to fit
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. face — to point toward
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. cold — not warm
  15. capital — a city
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. scale — in music
  19. suit — clothes
  20. capital — money
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. scale — size or range
  24. face — to confront

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