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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: season · perch · cell · kick · saw · field · key · face

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. saw — the tool
  5. season — of the year
  6. key — the most important part
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. face — to confront
  9. saw — the tool
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. perch — the fish
  13. field — farmland
  14. key — for a lock
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — a phone
  18. key — in music
  19. field — a subject
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kick — in football
  23. season — in sport
  24. field — for sport

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