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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: face · staff · pound · bound · tear · rock · march · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. march — the month
  4. bound — obliged
  5. face — to confront
  6. staff — employees
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bound — certain
  9. rock — a stone
  10. face — to point toward
  11. pound — a weight
  12. staff — a stick
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rock — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. march — music
  17. tear — to rip
  18. face — part of the head
  19. capital — a city
  20. staff — employees
  21. bound — tied together
  22. march — the month
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pound — for dogs

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