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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: kid · foot · field · face · row · ruler · sharp · content

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. kid — to tease
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. kid — child
  6. face — to point toward
  7. foot — a measure
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. field — farmland
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. field — a subject
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. field — for sport
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. face — part of the head
  21. row — a line
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. content — videos and posts

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