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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. face — to point toward
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. sharp — clever
  7. field — for sport
  8. mate — a friend
  9. board — to get on
  10. mate — to breed
  11. game — wild animals
  12. mate — a partner
  13. swing — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fall — the season
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. game — a match
  19. field — a subject
  20. face — to confront
  21. fall — to drop
  22. field — farmland
  23. swing — in golf
  24. face — part of the head

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