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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. saw — the tool
  5. march — the month
  6. pitch — completely
  7. march — music
  8. cap — a hat
  9. face — part of the head
  10. march — the month
  11. field — farmland
  12. face — to point toward
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cap — of ice
  16. mug — a cup
  17. field — for sport
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cap — a lid
  22. mug — to rob
  23. face — to confront
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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