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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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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: kid · stick · mine · capital · land · bay · cue · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. capital — money
  5. mine — for digging
  6. land — ground
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cue — a hint
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. face — part of the head
  13. face — to point toward
  14. kid — child
  15. land — to come down
  16. kid — to tease
  17. capital — a city
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. land — a country
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. cue — a signal

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