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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 120 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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. tube — the underground
  4. degree — from a university
  5. face — part of the head
  6. march — the month
  7. face — to confront
  8. capital — money
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. march — music
  14. content — happy
  15. saw — the tool
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. content — the amount
  18. tube — a container
  19. face — to point toward
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a city
  24. degree — temperature

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