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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: trunk · firm · chest · prune · capital · face · chip · wave

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. firm — a company
  3. capital — money
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. chest — of your body
  8. firm — decided
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. capital — a city
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chest — a box
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — to eat
  21. face — part of the head
  22. chip — for betting
  23. face — to point toward
  24. firm — steady

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