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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: land · face · field · cell · pitcher · spell

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. face — to confront
  4. field — a subject
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — a country
  7. spell — letters
  8. face — part of the head
  9. field — farmland
  10. spell — magic
  11. field — for sport
  12. spell — a short time
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — in biology
  16. land — ground
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cell — a phone

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