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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. face — part of the head
  3. march — the month
  4. field — farmland
  5. staff — employees
  6. field — for sport
  7. face — to confront
  8. cell — a phone
  9. fine — high quality
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chip — for betting
  12. face — to point toward
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chest — a box
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chest — of your body
  18. march — the month
  19. staff — employees
  20. field — a subject
  21. march — music
  22. staff — a stick
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. chip — to eat

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