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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. land — a country
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. dip — to sink
  5. capital — money
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. land — ground
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. perch — the fish
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. wax — to grow
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. face — to point toward
  15. capital — a city
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitch — completely
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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