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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. dip — to sink
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. land — to come down
  9. face — to point toward
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. field — for sport
  17. land — a country
  18. wave — with your hand

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