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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. file — a tool
  4. capital — a city
  5. content — the amount
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. ground — a position
  9. content — happy
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. file — a document
  12. rash — a series
  13. ground — the earth
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. file — a line of people
  16. rash — hasty
  17. capital — money
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. face — to confront
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bat — the animal
  24. face — to point toward

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