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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: mouse · wind · capital · pop · last · face · degree · can

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. capital — a city
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — money
  7. can — to be able to
  8. face — part of the head
  9. degree — an amount
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. pop — soda
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pop — music
  16. face — to confront
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. wind — moving air
  20. can — a tin
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. can — a tin
  24. pop — to visit

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