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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. face — to point toward
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. saw — the tool
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. field — for sport
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. file — a document
  9. bear — the animal
  10. file — a tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. file — a line of people
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. saw — the tool
  20. snap — to click
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. field — a subject
  23. bear — the animal
  24. face — to confront

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