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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 very handy with a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — farmland
  4. court — of a king
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. bound — certain
  8. bound — tied together
  9. saw — the tool
  10. race — a contest
  11. field — a subject
  12. face — to confront
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. field — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — humankind
  18. bound — obliged
  19. face — to point toward
  20. court — for sport
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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