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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: tube · hide · face · bass · foot · capital · land · spring

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — a country
  3. face — to confront
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — ground
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. face — to point toward
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. capital — money
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — low music
  16. foot — a measure
  17. spring — the season
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. tube — the underground
  21. land — to come down
  22. bass — the fish
  23. face — part of the head
  24. capital — a city

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