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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. shower — rain
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a tool
  6. lie — to recline
  7. capital — money
  8. file — a document
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. face — to confront
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. pitch — completely
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. game — a match
  16. face — part of the head
  17. face — to point toward
  18. capital — a city
  19. season — of the year
  20. game — wild animals
  21. shower — to wash
  22. season — in sport
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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