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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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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: bat · race · foot · kid · face · cap · tube · field

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. kid — child
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cap — of ice
  6. field — for sport
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cap — a lid
  10. field — a subject
  11. face — to point toward
  12. race — humankind
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. tube — the underground
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cap — a hat
  18. field — farmland
  19. foot — a measure
  20. race — a contest
  21. tube — a container
  22. kid — to tease
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. race — the arms race

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