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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fine — high quality
  4. wound — an injury
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rule — a law
  7. face — to confront
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. face — part of the head
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — wild animals
  14. fine — all right
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. face — to point toward
  19. wound — an injury
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rule — government
  22. rush — hurry
  23. game — a match
  24. field — farmland

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