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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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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. file — a line of people
  5. hand — help
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cue — a hint
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cue — a signal
  11. field — for sport
  12. cue — for pool
  13. file — a tool
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. file — a document
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cell — a phone
  18. face — part of the head

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