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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · pound · capital · deal · bat · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. deal — to handle
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. face — to point toward
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. face — part of the head
  10. kid — child
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. face — to confront
  18. pound — for dogs

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