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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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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: face · craft · field · rest · capital · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. face — to confront
  3. cell — in biology
  4. capital — money
  5. craft — a skill
  6. rest — what's left
  7. field — farmland
  8. rest — a break
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. rest — what's left
  11. face — to point toward
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. face — part of the head
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. capital — a city
  18. craft — boats

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