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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 · patient · hand · spring · perch · capital · lie · land

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. capital — money
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. hand — in cards
  8. face — to confront
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. hand — help
  12. land — a country
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. face — part of the head
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. face — to point toward
  17. land — to come down
  18. spring — a coil
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spring — of water
  21. lie — to recline
  22. spring — the season
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. land — ground

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