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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. degree — from a university
  5. face — to point toward
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — help
  8. face — to confront
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. degree — an amount
  11. hand — in cards
  12. field — farmland
  13. degree — temperature
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. rule — a law
  16. toast — bread
  17. face — part of the head
  18. rule — government

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