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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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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: chip · perch · spring · face · capital · trunk · last · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. last — final
  3. capital — a city
  4. face — to point toward
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. chip — for betting
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. spring — of water
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. perch — the fish
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. last — finally
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. face — to confront
  16. capital — money
  17. chip — to eat
  18. spring — the season
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. face — part of the head
  21. last — to go on
  22. game — wild animals
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — a coil

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