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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — a video
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. clip — for paper
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. clip — to cut
  11. scale — in music
  12. face — to point toward
  13. field — for sport
  14. roll — a cake
  15. field — a subject
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. roll — a list
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. face — part of the head
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. scale — size or range
  23. field — farmland
  24. game — wild animals

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