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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 120 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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  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. face — to confront
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — farmland
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. field — for sport
  9. bass — the fish
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. scale — in music
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bore — to drill
  18. field — a subject
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bore — to tire
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. wax — to grow
  23. scale — size or range
  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