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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
468
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: present · ball · face · date · stem · field · kid · dip

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. ball — a great time
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. kid — to tease
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. face — part of the head
  7. present — the time now
  8. face — to confront
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. present — a gift
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. face — to point toward
  13. ball — a dance
  14. field — farmland
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — for sport
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. dip — to sink
  19. present — there
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. date — the fruit
  22. field — a subject
  23. stem — to come from
  24. kid — child

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