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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cold — an illness
  3. key — in music
  4. face — to point toward
  5. capital — a city
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bank — for money
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. capital — money
  12. bank — for money
  13. file — a document
  14. bank — of a river
  15. vault — a safe
  16. face — part of the head
  17. file — a line of people
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — for a lock
  20. bat — the animal
  21. face — to confront
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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