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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 120 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: tube · race · field · wave · mug · face · key · mate

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mug — a face
  3. mate — to breed
  4. tube — the underground
  5. field — a subject
  6. mate — a partner
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — the most important part
  9. key — in music
  10. face — to confront
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. race — a contest
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mate — a friend
  15. field — for sport
  16. mug — to rob
  17. face — to point toward
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. race — the arms race
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. race — humankind
  24. tube — a container

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