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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. land — a country
  3. firm — steady
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. clip — for paper
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. rash — hasty
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — ground
  11. rock — a stone
  12. field — farmland
  13. firm — a company
  14. clip — to cut
  15. face — to point toward
  16. firm — decided
  17. face — to confront
  18. field — for sport
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. rock — music
  24. face — part of the head

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