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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: face · staff · field · trunk · march · board · cold · row

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cold — an illness
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. row — to paddle
  6. march — the month
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. row — a line
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. face — to confront
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. board — a committee
  16. cold — not warm
  17. staff — employees
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. field — a subject
  21. face — to point toward
  22. field — farmland
  23. board — to get on
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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