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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. face — part of the head
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. stem — to come from
  6. content — happy
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. chair — a leader
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. degree — from a university
  19. face — to confront
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. content — the amount
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pitch — completely

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