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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. face — to point toward
  3. drill — a practice
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pit — a hole
  6. field — a subject
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. drill — the tool
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. field — farmland
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. face — to confront
  14. field — for sport
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pit — in a race
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. staff — a stick
  21. staff — employees
  22. drill — army training
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. stem — to come from

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