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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 was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. face — part of the head
  4. mug — to rob
  5. row — a line
  6. field — a subject
  7. face — to point toward
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. mug — a face
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rash — a series
  16. degree — temperature
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — hasty
  19. mug — a cup
  20. degree — an amount
  21. field — for sport
  22. degree — from a university
  23. fork — in a road
  24. hide — to keep secret

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