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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. face — to confront
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. face — to point toward
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. track — a path
  8. kid — to tease
  9. mine — for digging
  10. field — a subject
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. track — a song
  16. face — part of the head
  17. field — farmland
  18. kid — child

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