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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: last · roll · straw · lie · stem · wax · field · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. last — final
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. last — finally
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. roll — a cake
  7. field — for sport
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. face — part of the head
  13. field — farmland
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — to grow
  16. stem — to come from
  17. lie — to recline
  18. field — a subject
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. roll — a list
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. wax — for sculpting

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