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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: saw · coach · tear · field · fork · season · face · hand

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. face — to confront
  4. season — in sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. tear — to rip
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. tear — from crying
  15. face — to point toward
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. fork — in a road
  22. face — part of the head
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. tear — from crying

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