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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 124 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mug — a cup
  3. face — part of the head
  4. field — a subject
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. kid — to tease
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. field — for sport
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pass — a permit
  14. mug — to rob
  15. mug — a face
  16. kid — child
  17. face — to point toward
  18. field — farmland
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. face — to confront
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — a grade
  23. wound — an injury
  24. game — wild animals

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