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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: face · capital · land · patient · tear · chip · game · vault

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. capital — money
  3. land — a country
  4. tear — from crying
  5. game — a match
  6. land — ground
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. face — to confront
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. land — to come down
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. game — wild animals
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. vault — a safe
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a city
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — to eat
  24. face — to point toward

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