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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. tube — a container
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. ground — a position
  6. field — for sport
  7. face — part of the head
  8. cell — a phone
  9. face — to point toward
  10. staff — employees
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cell — in biology
  14. squash — to crush
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. staff — employees
  20. staff — a stick
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. ground — the earth
  24. face — to confront

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