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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: field · wind · sharp · face · hide · staff · stock · scale

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. face — to confront
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. staff — employees
  5. sharp — clever
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. scale — in music
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. field — a subject
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. stock — goods
  12. wind — moving air
  13. scale — size or range
  14. staff — employees
  15. stock — shares
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wind — moving air
  22. staff — a stick
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. face — to point toward

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