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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. field — a subject
  3. march — the month
  4. kick — in football
  5. face — part of the head
  6. field — farmland
  7. pitch — completely
  8. march — music
  9. face — to point toward
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — a trail
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. field — for sport
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. cell — in biology
  20. march — the month
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. face — to confront
  24. cell — a phone

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