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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · cell · face · mouse · capital · track

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. wind — moving air
  9. face — to confront
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. track — a path
  13. track — a song
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. cell — in biology
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wind — moving air

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