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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: bat · field · ball · face · rule · date · race · content

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rule — government
  5. race — humankind
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. content — happy
  8. content — the amount
  9. field — for sport
  10. ball — a dance
  11. bat — the animal
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. race — the arms race
  14. face — part of the head
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. face — to confront
  17. date — the fruit
  18. race — a contest
  19. rule — a law
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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