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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: face · field · mate · fall · chair · race

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. 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. field — for sport
  2. mate — a friend
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. race — humankind
  5. field — a subject
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. race — a contest
  10. field — farmland
  11. mate — to breed
  12. race — the arms race
  13. fall — to drop
  14. face — to point toward
  15. fall — to drop
  16. face — to confront
  17. fall — the season
  18. 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