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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: sharp · pound · face · leaves · field · coach · bat · perch

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. face — to point toward
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. bat — the animal
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. face — part of the head
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. field — for sport
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. face — to confront
  19. perch — the fish
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. sharp — clever
  23. pound — a weight
  24. leaves — lets stay

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