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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: mate · game · wind · lie · capital · face · degree · squash

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. degree — temperature
  3. squash — the sport
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. face — to confront
  6. mate — a friend
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — wild animals
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. game — a match
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. degree — from a university
  17. squash — to crush
  18. degree — an amount
  19. capital — a city
  20. mate — to breed
  21. wind — moving air
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. capital — money
  24. mate — a partner

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