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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. face — to confront
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. mark — a trace
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bark — to shout
  7. land — a country
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. land — ground
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — to come down
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. last — final
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — for sport
  18. mark — a grade
  19. face — to point toward
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — the cause
  24. last — finally

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