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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · mark · stem · capital · cold · face · mug · pop

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. file — a tool
  4. face — part of the head
  5. capital — money
  6. face — to confront
  7. pop — music
  8. mark — a trace
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. file — a document
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mark — a grade
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pop — soda
  16. stem — to come from
  17. capital — a city
  18. mug — a face
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mug — a cup
  21. file — a line of people
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mug — to rob
  24. cold — an illness

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