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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kid — child
  5. hand — in cards
  6. field — farmland
  7. race — a contest
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — a division
  11. bore — to tire
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bore — to drill
  15. field — a subject
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. field — for sport
  19. face — to confront
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. race — humankind
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. race — the arms race

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