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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: season · squash · field · face · root · saw · ball · wake

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. season — of the year
  3. field — for sport
  4. face — part of the head
  5. saw — the tool
  6. squash — to crush
  7. face — to confront
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. field — farmland
  11. root — of a word
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. root — the cause
  16. wake — a trail
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. face — to point toward
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — the sport
  22. ball — a dance
  23. root — of a plant
  24. season — in sport

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