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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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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: face · fork · capital · mine · track · kid · wave · rash

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. track — to keep track
  4. kid — to tease
  5. track — a path
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. fork — in a road
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — for digging
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. kid — child
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — to confront
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. face — to point toward
  20. track — a song
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. rash — hasty
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wave — of the sea

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