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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. face — to point toward
  4. rash — a series
  5. mine — for digging
  6. board — to get on
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. face — to confront
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rash — hasty
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. field — farmland
  18. face — part of the head
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. field — for sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. board — a committee

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