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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: ground · face · rush · fork · cold · capital · saw · fan

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ground — a position
  7. fork — in a road
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — crushed
  10. face — to point toward
  11. capital — a city
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. cold — an illness
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. face — to confront
  18. capital — money
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rush — to hurry

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