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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 120 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. face — part of the head
  3. deal — to handle
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. root — of a word
  8. field — a subject
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. field — farmland
  11. root — of a plant
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. root — the cause
  14. content — the amount
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — to confront
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rush — hurry
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. content — happy
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. field — for sport

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