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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. capital — a city
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — wild animals
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pop — to visit
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lie — to recline
  15. game — a match
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. saw — the tool
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pop — music
  22. mine — for digging
  23. pop — soda
  24. lie — an untruth

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