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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. game — wild animals
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. march — the month
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. field — for sport
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. march — the month
  15. lean — to bend
  16. game — a match
  17. face — to confront
  18. field — a subject
  19. band — a music group
  20. lean — thin
  21. band — a ring
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. march — music

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