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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. face — to confront
  3. craft — boats
  4. cold — not warm
  5. net — for catching
  6. face — part of the head
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stock — shares
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stock — goods
  14. mate — a partner
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. season — of the year
  17. face — to point toward
  18. season — in sport
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. craft — a skill
  23. mate — a friend
  24. craft — a handicraft

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