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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. face — to confront
  4. key — for a lock
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — for sport
  7. key — the most important part
  8. key — in music
  9. field — a subject
  10. band — a ring
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. band — a music group
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. field — farmland
  17. face — to point toward
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. rush — hurry
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. chair — a leader
  22. mine — for digging
  23. face — part of the head
  24. chair — to sit on

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