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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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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: cell · pit · wake · bark · fine · field · chest · face

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chest — a box
  3. field — farmland
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. face — to point toward
  6. fine — high quality
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — a trail
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. face — to confront
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bark — to shout
  16. pit — in a race
  17. fine — all right
  18. cell — a phone
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pit — a hole
  21. chest — of your body
  22. field — a subject
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cell — in biology

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