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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 120 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: file · bowl · deal · rule · field · face · wake · pit

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. pit — in a race
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wake — a trail
  8. rule — a law
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — for sport
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. deal — to handle
  15. face — to confront
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. face — to point toward
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. field — farmland
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. file — a document
  22. rule — government
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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