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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. face — to point toward
  3. march — the month
  4. band — a ring
  5. firm — a company
  6. march — music
  7. capital — a city
  8. land — to come down
  9. rush — hurry
  10. degree — temperature
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. land — ground
  13. face — part of the head
  14. firm — decided
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. capital — money
  17. march — the month
  18. firm — steady
  19. land — a country
  20. band — a music group
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — an amount
  23. face — to confront
  24. degree — from a university

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