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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: march · cap · face · roll · bat · bore · land · capital

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bat — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. cap — a hat
  6. march — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. face — to point toward
  9. land — to come down
  10. capital — a city
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. land — a country
  13. bore — to drill
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. capital — money
  20. roll — a list
  21. face — to confront
  22. roll — a cake
  23. face — part of the head
  24. land — ground

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