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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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Word bank
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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: object · patient · capital · land · board · roll · bat · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. roll — a cake
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. land — ground
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. land — a country
  11. face — to point toward
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bat — the animal
  14. face — part of the head
  15. roll — a list
  16. object — a thing
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. object — to protest
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. board — to get on
  22. object — an aim
  23. board — a committee
  24. land — to come down

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