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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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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 · wake · season · saw · field · stock · lash · cold

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. stock — goods
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. face — to confront
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. cold — not warm
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. field — farmland
  10. face — part of the head
  11. season — of the year
  12. face — to point toward
  13. field — for sport
  14. season — in sport
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. field — a subject
  18. stock — shares
  19. wake — a trail
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — an illness
  24. saw — the tool

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