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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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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — part of the head
  4. race — a contest
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. race — the arms race
  7. field — farmland
  8. spell — a short time
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bound — obliged
  11. spell — magic
  12. date — the fruit
  13. field — for sport
  14. bound — tied together
  15. spell — letters
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bound — certain
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. race — humankind

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