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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. swing — music
  4. field — for sport
  5. rash — hasty
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. game — a match
  10. swing — to play on
  11. field — farmland
  12. swing — in golf
  13. rash — a series
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. field — a subject
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. perch — the fish
  19. game — wild animals
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. wax — to grow

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