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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. saw — the tool
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. field — farmland
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitch — completely
  16. face — to confront
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. field — for sport

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