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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. face — to confront
  4. march — the month
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. cap — a hat
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cap — a lid
  14. march — the month
  15. wax — to grow
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. fall — the season
  19. kick — in football
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. fall — to drop
  23. march — music
  24. cap — of ice

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