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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. capital — a city
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. capital — money
  8. face — part of the head
  9. prune — to trim
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — humankind
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cold — not warm
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. face — to confront
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bass — low music

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