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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 116 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: squash · sharp · straw · capital · bark · face · rush · net

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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. squash — the vegetable
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. net — after costs
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. sharp — clever
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. face — part of the head
  11. rush — hurry
  12. net — for catching
  13. capital — a city
  14. squash — to crush
  15. face — to confront
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. net — in sport
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bark — to shout

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