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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: snap · face · pit · charge · jam · field · land · chest

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — a country
  5. snap — to click
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. pit — a hole
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. land — to come down
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. field — a subject
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chest — of your body
  14. land — ground
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. charge — electricity
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — for sport
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. charge — a price
  23. chest — a box
  24. charge — in control

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