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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. mug — to rob
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. ground — a position
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. face — to point toward
  7. mug — a face
  8. mug — a cup
  9. land — a country
  10. ground — crushed
  11. face — to confront
  12. land — to come down
  13. band — a music group
  14. field — for sport
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — ground
  19. face — part of the head
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — farmland
  24. ground — the earth

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