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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: drill · fan · snap · bay · field · face · craft · hand

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. craft — boats
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to point toward
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. drill — a practice
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. craft — a skill
  17. drill — army training
  18. hand — help
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. snap — to click

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