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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. bat — the animal
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to confront
  7. spell — magic
  8. squash — to crush
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. squash — the sport
  11. spell — letters
  12. field — a subject
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. lie — to recline
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. face — to point toward
  19. spell — a short time
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. wound — an injury
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bat — in an idiom

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