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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. field — a subject
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fine — all right
  12. field — for sport
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. game — wild animals
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. field — farmland
  17. suit — clothes
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. suit — in cards
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fine — high quality
  23. face — part of the head
  24. suit — to fit

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