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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: key · face · land · fall · capital · rush · can · march

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. land — to come down
  3. capital — a city
  4. can — a tin
  5. face — part of the head
  6. key — for a lock
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. key — in music
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. land — ground
  12. march — the month
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. march — the month
  17. key — the most important part
  18. face — to point toward
  19. can — a tin
  20. march — music
  21. land — a country
  22. can — to be able to
  23. face — to confront
  24. fall — to drop

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