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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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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. drill — army training
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. capital — money
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. face — to confront
  14. mine — for digging
  15. drill — a practice
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — the animal
  22. drill — the tool
  23. capital — a city
  24. bat — for baseball

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