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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. club — for dancing
  3. field — for sport
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. face — to point toward
  6. present — the time now
  7. club — a group
  8. kid — to tease
  9. present — there
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. land — to come down
  12. face — part of the head
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. snap — to click
  16. club — for golf
  17. field — farmland
  18. present — a gift
  19. land — ground
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. land — a country
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. kid — child
  24. field — a subject

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