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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: ball · rule · cold · track · pop · field · face · lie

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. track — a song
  6. cold — not warm
  7. track — to keep track
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — to confront
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. field — a subject
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. rule — government
  17. field — farmland
  18. face — part of the head
  19. lie — to recline
  20. track — a path
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rule — a law
  23. pop — to visit
  24. ball — a dance

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