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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 · chip · pop · date · chest · face · leaves · tube

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. field — farmland
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — for sport
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. field — a subject
  6. pop — to visit
  7. face — to point toward
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. face — to confront
  10. tube — a container
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. tube — the underground
  13. pop — soda
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. chest — a box
  17. chip — for betting
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pop — music
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. date — the fruit
  23. chip — in a computer
  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