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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. vault — a safe
  3. row — a line
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. face — part of the head
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chip — to eat
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. content — the amount
  13. face — to confront
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. content — happy
  17. chip — for betting
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. row — to paddle
  22. field — a subject
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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