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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cap — of ice
  3. pop — to visit
  4. face — to confront
  5. race — humankind
  6. pop — music
  7. capital — a city
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. root — the cause
  10. march — music
  11. face — to point toward
  12. root — of a word
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. face — part of the head
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — soda
  18. cap — a hat
  19. root — of a plant
  20. march — the month
  21. race — the arms race
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. race — a contest
  24. cap — a lid

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