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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. capital — money
  4. face — part of the head
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. face — to confront
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. capital — a city
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — rain
  11. wind — moving air
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bark — to shout
  14. march — the month
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wind — moving air
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. shower — to wash
  21. march — music
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. capital — a big letter

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