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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. clip — for paper
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. foot — a measure
  6. hand — help
  7. face — to point toward
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fork — in a road
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. clip — a video
  22. capital — a city
  23. face — to confront
  24. wind — to turn a key

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