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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: rule · staff · field · last · root · face · land · rock

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rock — music
  3. staff — employees
  4. rule — a law
  5. land — to come down
  6. field — for sport
  7. last — final
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rock — a stone
  10. rule — government
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. field — a subject
  13. face — to point toward
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a plant
  16. staff — employees
  17. field — farmland
  18. land — ground
  19. land — a country
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — finally
  22. root — of a word
  23. staff — a stick
  24. face — part of the head

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