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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. face — to confront
  3. ground — the earth
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. ground — crushed
  6. land — a country
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. game — a match
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. capital — money
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. capital — a city
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. face — to point toward
  19. ground — a position
  20. land — to come down
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. face — part of the head
  24. land — ground

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