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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. face — to confront
  3. field — a subject
  4. roll — a list
  5. court — of law
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. face — part of the head
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. cell — in biology
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. court — of a king
  14. face — to point toward
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. cell — a phone
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. court — for sport
  22. pitch — completely
  23. roll — a cake
  24. stand — on your feet

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