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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: key · bark · leaves · cell · straw · face · field · coach

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — a subject
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cell — a phone
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. key — the most important part
  10. field — for sport
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. key — for a lock
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cell — in biology
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. key — in music
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. field — farmland
  24. face — to point toward

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