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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. field — for sport
  5. suit — in cards
  6. charge — in control
  7. march — the month
  8. kid — child
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. root — the cause
  12. face — part of the head
  13. suit — to fit
  14. root — of a plant
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. kid — to tease
  18. field — farmland
  19. suit — clothes
  20. root — of a word
  21. charge — a price
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. charge — electricity
  24. march — music

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