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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: capital · lie · coach · squash · face · hand · field · mate

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. face — to confront
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. mate — to breed
  6. lie — to recline
  7. mate — a partner
  8. field — farmland
  9. face — to point toward
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. face — part of the head
  12. mate — a friend
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. squash — to crush
  15. hand — in cards
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. capital — money
  18. hand — help
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. squash — the sport
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. capital — a city
  23. coach — a trainer
  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