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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 116 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 took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. face — to point toward
  4. pop — soda
  5. stand — to bear
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — money
  8. pop — to visit
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. pop — music
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. face — to confront
  16. file — a line of people
  17. saw — the tool
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. march — the month
  20. face — part of the head
  21. file — a document
  22. march — music
  23. capital — a city
  24. march — the month

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