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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 120 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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cell — a phone
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. face — to confront
  6. firm — decided
  7. spring — the season
  8. cell — in biology
  9. spring — of water
  10. chair — a leader
  11. face — part of the head
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — magic
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. firm — a company
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. face — to point toward
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. firm — steady
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — farmland
  23. spring — a coil
  24. nail — for a hammer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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