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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: land · content · ground · face · bark · field · track · last

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. last — finally
  6. bark — to shout
  7. face — to confront
  8. land — a country
  9. field — farmland
  10. last — final
  11. face — to point toward
  12. field — a subject
  13. land — ground
  14. content — the amount
  15. field — for sport
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ground — crushed
  18. track — to keep track
  19. last — to go on
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. track — a path
  23. track — a song
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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