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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bank — of a river
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. capital — a city
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. chip — to eat
  9. bank — for money
  10. field — farmland
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. face — to confront
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — for digging
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chip — for betting
  24. face — part of the head

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