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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 116 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. face — to point toward
  3. field — farmland
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. staff — employees
  6. field — a subject
  7. tear — from crying
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. rest — a break
  11. branch — a division
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. rest — what's left
  14. staff — employees
  15. face — to confront
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. staff — a stick
  18. capital — money
  19. tear — to rip
  20. capital — a city
  21. rest — what's left
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. face — part of the head

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