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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 120 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: arm · face · net · club · cold · racket · field · fan

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — not warm
  4. face — part of the head
  5. field — a subject
  6. net — in sport
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. face — to point toward
  12. net — for catching
  13. club — for dancing
  14. cold — an illness
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. club — a group
  17. field — farmland
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. field — for sport
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. club — for golf
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. fan — to cool the air

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