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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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468
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: season · wound · face · land · capital · shower · plane · mine

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. face — part of the head
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. face — to point toward
  5. season — of the year
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wound — an injury
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. capital — a city
  10. shower — rain
  11. land — to come down
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. capital — money
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. season — in sport
  18. shower — to wash
  19. plane — a tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. land — ground
  22. face — to confront
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. land — a country

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