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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. march — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. pass — a permit
  7. current — electric
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — to confront
  10. rash — a series
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cell — in biology
  14. march — the month
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. current — of water
  17. field — farmland
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. current — happening now
  20. face — part of the head
  21. clip — a video
  22. rash — hasty
  23. clip — for paper
  24. field — for sport

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