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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 120 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: capital · rash · face · cabinet · field · kid · staff · fork

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rash — a series
  7. kid — to tease
  8. rash — hasty
  9. face — to confront
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. staff — a stick
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. staff — employees
  14. field — farmland
  15. fork — in a road
  16. face — to point toward
  17. staff — employees
  18. face — part of the head
  19. field — a subject
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. kid — child
  22. field — for sport
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cabinet — ministers

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