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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 · capital · land · saw · mate · mug · coach · bat

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mate — to breed
  4. capital — a city
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. face — part of the head
  7. land — a country
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mug — a face
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. capital — money
  12. face — to point toward
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. mate — a friend
  15. saw — the tool
  16. mate — a partner
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. land — to come down
  19. mug — to rob
  20. bat — the animal
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. face — to confront
  24. coach — a trainer

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