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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.

Words on the sheet
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: bowl · bat · capital · field · content · dip · face · wake

  1. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. capital — a city
  4. face — part of the head
  5. capital — money
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. bat — the animal
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — the amount
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wake — a trail
  18. field — for sport
  19. face — to point toward
  20. face — to confront
  21. field — farmland
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. field — a subject

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