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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: scale · capital · bound · net · face · spring · leaves · pop

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. net — after costs
  3. pop — soda
  4. capital — money
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. bound — tied together
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. net — in sport
  10. pop — music
  11. capital — a city
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — a coil
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. face — to point toward
  16. scale — size or range
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. scale — in music
  20. spring — of water
  21. bound — obliged
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spring — the season
  24. net — for catching

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