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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: bowl · perch · bass · toast · mine · face · capital · land

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. land — ground
  3. mine — for digging
  4. perch — the fish
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. capital — money
  9. face — to confront
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. bass — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bass — low music
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. face — part of the head

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