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

Word bank: face · cold · ruler · bark · deal · capital

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. face — part of the head
  8. cold — an illness
  9. face — to confront
  10. capital — money
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bark — to shout
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — not warm
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cold — the Cold War

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