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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. tear — from crying
  3. face — to point toward
  4. field — a subject
  5. roll — a cake
  6. field — for sport
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. rest — a break
  9. mate — a friend
  10. snap — to click
  11. tear — to rip
  12. roll — a list
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to confront
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. mate — to breed
  20. field — farmland
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ball — a great time
  23. tear — from crying
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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