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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — a subject
  4. file — a line of people
  5. face — to point toward
  6. field — for sport
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. tube — a container
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. roll — a cake
  11. tube — the underground
  12. lie — to recline
  13. field — farmland
  14. file — a tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. file — a document
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hand — help
  21. roll — a list
  22. hand — in cards
  23. face — to confront
  24. tube — in a tire

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