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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — all right
  7. face — part of the head
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. field — for sport
  10. face — to confront
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. tear — to rip
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. stem — to come from
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. face — to point toward
  17. tear — from crying
  18. scale — size or range
  19. plane — a tool
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. scale — in music
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. plane — an aircraft

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