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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. spring — the season
  3. chair — a leader
  4. saw — the tool
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. capital — a city
  7. face — part of the head
  8. spring — of water
  9. roll — a cake
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. craft — a skill
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. craft — boats
  20. saw — the tool
  21. spring — a coil
  22. capital — money
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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