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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 124 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — for catching
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. row — a line
  6. field — for sport
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. plane — a tool
  10. kick — in football
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. net — in sport
  13. squash — the sport
  14. net — after costs
  15. face — to point toward
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. field — a subject
  19. squash — to crush
  20. face — part of the head
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. row — to paddle
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — farmland

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