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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. face — to point toward
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. game — wild animals
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. hand — in cards
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. face — to confront
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. game — a match
  18. face — part of the head
  19. foot — a measure
  20. hand — help
  21. capital — money
  22. march — the month
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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