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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: wound · roll · mouse · march · field · sharp · rush · face

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. face — to point toward
  4. field — a subject
  5. roll — a cake
  6. field — farmland
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. face — to confront
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. sharp — clever
  12. march — the month
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. face — part of the head
  17. march — music
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. roll — a list
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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