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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. capital — money
  3. tear — to rip
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. face — to confront
  6. capital — a city
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — a position
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. ground — the earth
  14. tear — from crying
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. dip — to sink
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — crushed
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. face — part of the head

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