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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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468
Word bank
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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. row — a line
  6. pound — a weight
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. row — to paddle
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. field — farmland
  20. face — part of the head
  21. kid — child
  22. field — for sport
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. kid — to tease

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