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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fall — to drop
  3. face — to confront
  4. cue — a hint
  5. band — a music group
  6. capital — money
  7. cue — a signal
  8. face — to point toward
  9. band — a ring
  10. fall — to drop
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cue — for pool
  14. stem — to come from
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. capital — a city
  20. face — part of the head
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. fall — the season
  24. jam — in traffic

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