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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. face — to confront
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — farmland
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. scale — in music
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. cold — not warm
  15. field — a subject
  16. face — part of the head
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cold — the Cold War

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