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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 116 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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wind — moving air
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. capital — a city
  6. march — the month
  7. bound — certain
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. march — music
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bound — obliged
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. bound — tied together
  15. squash — to crush
  16. shower — to wash
  17. capital — money
  18. face — part of the head
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. face — to confront
  21. shower — rain
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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