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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. field — for sport
  5. drill — army training
  6. cap — a lid
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. drill — a practice
  9. drill — the tool
  10. field — a subject
  11. face — to confront
  12. field — farmland
  13. cap — a hat
  14. face — to point toward
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cap — of ice
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. bark — to shout
  22. game — a match
  23. face — part of the head
  24. game — wild animals

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