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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — to confront
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. face — to point toward
  5. staff — employees
  6. face — part of the head
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. field — for sport
  9. cap — a lid
  10. saw — the tool
  11. field — farmland
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — of ice
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a music group
  16. staff — a stick
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. kid — child
  19. saw — the tool
  20. board — a committee
  21. field — a subject
  22. board — to get on
  23. staff — employees
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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