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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. last — final
  4. face — to point toward
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. last — to go on
  7. capital — money
  8. face — to confront
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. last — finally
  12. capital — a city
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. face — part of the head
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. field — for sport
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bowl — a dish

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