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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: field · sharp · face · arm · mine · rash · cabinet · wake

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — a subject
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. face — to confront
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. rash — hasty
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. field — for sport
  16. wake — a trail
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — farmland
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — on the skin

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