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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · capital · mine · hide · lie · mate · rash · face

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rash — hasty
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mate — a friend
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. mate — to breed
  7. capital — a city
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rash — a series
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. scale — size or range
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. scale — in music
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. capital — money
  22. lie — to recline
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. hide — to keep secret

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