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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. spell — letters
  3. cell — in biology
  4. bass — the fish
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bass — low music
  7. face — part of the head
  8. capital — a city
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. squash — to crush
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. cell — a phone
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rush — hurry
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. face — to point toward
  17. spell — a short time
  18. squash — the sport
  19. capital — money
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. face — to confront
  24. spell — magic

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