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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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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: pit · root · face · capital · ball · game · bulb · tear

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bulb — for light
  3. game — wild animals
  4. ball — a great time
  5. pit — a hole
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. face — to point toward
  9. capital — money
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. face — part of the head
  14. root — of a word
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. game — a match
  17. pit — in a race
  18. tear — from crying
  19. capital — a city
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — the cause
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. bulb — for light

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