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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — for sport
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. bulb — for light
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. face — to confront
  9. field — farmland
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. file — a tool
  12. bulb — for light
  13. present — the time now
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. present — a gift
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. present — there
  22. face — to point toward
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. field — a subject

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