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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. saw — the tool
  10. face — to point toward
  11. band — a music group
  12. face — part of the head
  13. field — a subject
  14. saw — the tool
  15. board — to get on
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. board — a committee
  18. straw — dry grass

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