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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: face · ground · field · game · rule · last · patient · can

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. field — farmland
  3. last — finally
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. face — to confront
  6. game — wild animals
  7. last — to go on
  8. face — to point toward
  9. game — a match
  10. can — to be able to
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. last — final
  14. can — a tin
  15. rule — a law
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. field — for sport
  20. face — part of the head
  21. field — a subject
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. rule — government
  24. ground — the earth

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