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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. face — to confront
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. face — to point toward
  10. fall — to drop
  11. wind — moving air
  12. field — for sport
  13. bat — the animal
  14. face — part of the head
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — a video
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. pitch — completely
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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