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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. track — a song
  3. spring — a coil
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. face — part of the head
  8. cell — in biology
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — of water
  11. cell — a phone
  12. chest — a box
  13. track — to keep track
  14. can — a tin
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. face — to point toward
  18. field — farmland
  19. track — a path
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. can — a tin
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. face — to confront
  24. spring — the season

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