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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. rule — government
  3. field — for sport
  4. face — part of the head
  5. prune — to trim
  6. face — to confront
  7. rule — a law
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. field — farmland
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — a subject
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'

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