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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.

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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: staff · lie · pitcher · field · hand · sharp · face · root

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. field — a subject
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. staff — a stick
  9. face — to point toward
  10. root — of a word
  11. field — farmland
  12. root — of a plant
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — employees
  15. face — part of the head
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. face — to confront
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. field — for sport
  22. lie — to recline
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. root — the cause

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