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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 116 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. field — a subject
  3. face — part of the head
  4. field — farmland
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. kick — in football
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. shower — rain
  11. face — to point toward
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. season — in sport
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. fork — in a road
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. field — for sport
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — a video
  24. face — to confront

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