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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 116 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. face — to point toward
  3. hand — help
  4. season — of the year
  5. field — a subject
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. fork — in a road
  8. field — farmland
  9. hand — in cards
  10. court — for sport
  11. face — to confront
  12. face — part of the head
  13. court — of a king
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. rash — a series
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rash — hasty
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. season — in sport
  22. court — of law
  23. rush — hurry
  24. field — for sport

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