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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. field — farmland
  3. face — to point toward
  4. scale — size or range
  5. field — for sport
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. scale — in music
  11. pitch — completely
  12. capital — money
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pass — a permit
  21. field — a subject
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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