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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 116 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 · bat · land · cabinet · mine · lie · fork · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — to point toward
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. land — a country
  9. fork — in a road
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. kid — child
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — the animal
  19. land — ground
  20. mine — for digging
  21. face — to confront
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cabinet — ministers

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