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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. rock — music
  3. row — a line
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. face — to point toward
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. scale — in music
  9. face — to confront
  10. field — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. season — of the year
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. field — farmland
  17. rock — a stone
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. field — a subject
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. face — part of the head
  23. plane — a tool
  24. season — in sport

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