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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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Word bank
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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: temple · capital · last · safe · file · wind · pop · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pop — to visit
  3. pop — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. face — to point toward
  8. last — final
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a document
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. face — part of the head
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. capital — a city
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. pop — soda
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a tool

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