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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. file — a line of people
  3. file — a tool
  4. last — to go on
  5. capital — money
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. capital — a city
  8. saw — the tool
  9. file — a document
  10. last — final
  11. face — to confront
  12. hand — in cards
  13. snap — to click
  14. saw — the tool
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. last — finally
  18. face — to point toward
  19. fine — all right
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fine — high quality

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