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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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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: bay · band · cap · face · swing · fork · capital · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. face — part of the head
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. fork — in a road
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. cap — a hat
  14. swing — music
  15. face — to confront
  16. tear — to rip
  17. swing — to play on
  18. band — a ring
  19. face — to point toward
  20. swing — in golf
  21. capital — a city
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cap — of ice

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