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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 120 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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. present — a gift
  3. face — to point toward
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — in cards
  8. present — the time now
  9. face — to confront
  10. last — final
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. perch — the fish
  20. face — part of the head
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. present — there
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. arm — part of the body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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