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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 120 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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. swing — music
  5. game — wild animals
  6. face — to confront
  7. field — for sport
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — tied together
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. bound — certain
  13. field — a subject
  14. lie — to recline
  15. face — to point toward
  16. field — farmland
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. swing — in golf
  19. stock — goods
  20. scale — size or range
  21. face — part of the head
  22. stock — shares
  23. scale — in music
  24. lie — an untruth

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