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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. field — a subject
  3. clip — for paper
  4. spring — of water
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. drill — a practice
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cap — of ice
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — farmland
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. face — part of the head
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. drill — army training
  19. spring — the season
  20. field — for sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cabinet — ministers

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