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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. capital — money
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. face — to point toward
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. kick — in football
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. perch — the fish
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — part of the head
  21. capital — a city
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. band — a music group

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