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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. club — a group
  3. field — farmland
  4. club — for dancing
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. field — a subject
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — a position
  9. drill — army training
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. field — for sport
  12. shower — rain
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. club — for golf
  15. ball — a dance
  16. ground — the earth
  17. drill — the tool
  18. face — part of the head
  19. face — to point toward
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — a practice
  23. ball — a great time
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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