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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: capital · ground · present · season · wound · mouse · face · game

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. game — a match
  6. ground — the earth
  7. face — part of the head
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. face — to point toward
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — wild animals
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. ground — crushed
  15. season — in sport
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. ground — a position
  21. season — of the year
  22. face — to confront
  23. present — there
  24. capital — money

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