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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 · cell · field · band · chair · present

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cell — in biology
  3. field — farmland
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. band — a music group
  6. face — to confront
  7. field — for sport
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cell — a phone
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. field — a subject
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. present — a gift
  16. face — to point toward
  17. face — part of the head
  18. band — a rubber band

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