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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. field — a subject
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. row — a line
  9. row — to paddle
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. field — for sport
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. tear — from crying
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. tear — to rip
  17. face — part of the head
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. field — farmland
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. pass — a permit

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