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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 116 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 had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. face — to confront
  11. kid — to tease
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. face — to point toward
  15. field — a subject
  16. race — humankind
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. mate — a partner
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. mate — to breed
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. mate — a friend

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