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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: field · wound · face · lash · bark · cold · bass · firm

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  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. field — a subject
  2. firm — steady
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bass — the fish
  7. wound — an injury
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. bass — low music
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. firm — a company
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. face — to confront
  20. field — farmland
  21. firm — decided
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — part of the head
  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