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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 bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. field — a subject
  3. march — the month
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. march — the month
  6. field — for sport
  7. march — music
  8. face — part of the head
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. rest — a break
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. roll — a cake
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. face — to confront
  19. scale — in music
  20. bat — the animal
  21. field — farmland
  22. rest — what's left
  23. roll — a list
  24. rest — what's left

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