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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 124 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — to point toward
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. rash — hasty
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cue — a hint
  8. field — a subject
  9. tube — the underground
  10. cue — a signal
  11. shower — rain
  12. rash — a series
  13. shower — to wash
  14. scale — size or range
  15. face — part of the head
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. scale — in music
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. cue — for pool
  21. field — for sport
  22. plane — a tool
  23. tube — a container
  24. plane — an aircraft

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