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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 120 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: key · track · capital · drill · band · prune · fall · face

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. track — to keep track
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a ring
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — money
  7. track — a path
  8. fall — to drop
  9. prune — to trim
  10. key — the most important part
  11. drill — a practice
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. track — a song
  16. key — in music
  17. drill — army training
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — part of the head
  20. fall — the season
  21. key — for a lock
  22. drill — the tool
  23. fall — to drop
  24. band — a music group

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