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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mug — a cup
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cue — for pool
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cue — a signal
  12. kick — in football
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. cue — a hint
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. capital — a city
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. capital — money
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mug — a face
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. kick — with a leg

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