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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's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mug — a face
  3. face — to confront
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. mug — to rob
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wound — an injury
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mug — a cup
  17. swing — music
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bark — to shout
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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