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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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 city
  4. pit — a hole
  5. mate — to breed
  6. key — the most important part
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pit — in a race
  9. mate — a friend
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. face — part of the head
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pitch — completely
  17. key — for a lock
  18. capital — money
  19. kid — child
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. key — in music
  23. game — a match
  24. face — to point toward

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