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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. face — to point toward
  3. capital — a city
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. field — a subject
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. race — a contest
  11. scale — in music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mate — a friend
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. race — humankind
  16. mate — to breed
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. face — part of the head
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. capital — money
  21. race — the arms race
  22. field — farmland
  23. mate — a partner
  24. wound — an injury

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