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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. last — to go on
  3. drill — the tool
  4. last — finally
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. last — final
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. press — a publisher
  10. wax — to grow
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. pitch — completely
  13. drill — a practice
  14. field — a subject
  15. scale — size or range
  16. press — to push
  17. face — part of the head
  18. scale — in music
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. drill — army training
  21. field — for sport
  22. press — newspapers
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitch — a sports field

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