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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. present — there
  6. pop — to visit
  7. face — to confront
  8. sharp — clever
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — music
  11. drill — a practice
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — army training
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. face — to point toward
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — the time now
  24. face — part of the head

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