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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: chip · shower · mark · jam · wound · face · field · bat

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. shower — to wash
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. field — a subject
  9. shower — rain
  10. mark — a grade
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mark — a trace
  14. field — farmland
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. field — for sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — part of the head
  20. wound — an injury
  21. chip — for betting
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chip — to eat

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