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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. face — to confront
  3. field — for sport
  4. capital — money
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. chest — of your body
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. root — the cause
  11. mug — a face
  12. face — to point toward
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. field — farmland
  16. mug — to rob
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. capital — a city
  20. mug — a cup
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. face — part of the head
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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