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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: game · pop · charge · face · row · stick · hand · field

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. charge — a price
  3. face — part of the head
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. hand — help
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. face — to point toward
  9. pop — soda
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. row — a line
  12. charge — electricity
  13. field — for sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pop — to visit
  16. field — farmland
  17. game — a match
  18. hand — in cards
  19. face — to confront
  20. charge — in control
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. row — to paddle
  24. pop — music

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