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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. pass — a permit
  3. face — part of the head
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. field — farmland
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. march — music
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. snap — to click
  12. field — for sport
  13. bank — for money
  14. march — the month
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. face — to confront
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. march — the month
  21. bank — for money
  22. field — a subject
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bank — of a river

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