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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — a partner
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. face — part of the head
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. capital — money
  12. bass — low music
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. mate — a friend
  16. capital — a city
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — the animal
  20. face — to point toward
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bat — the animal
  24. net — in sport

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