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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: face · chair · club · field · pass · bore · fall · row

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. face — part of the head
  3. bore — to drill
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. club — for golf
  6. chair — a leader
  7. pass — a permit
  8. club — for dancing
  9. field — for sport
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. club — a group
  16. field — a subject
  17. face — to confront
  18. row — to paddle
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. bore — to tire
  24. row — a line

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