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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 116 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: tear · rest · cold · mouse · key · face · hand · capital

  1. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — in cards
  5. face — part of the head
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. capital — money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. capital — a city
  14. rest — what's left
  15. face — to confront
  16. key — for a lock
  17. cold — an illness
  18. key — in music
  19. face — to point toward
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. key — the most important part
  22. tear — to rip
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. capital — a big letter

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