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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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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: lean · face · kid · press · field · race · ball · rule

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. face — to point toward
  3. field — for sport
  4. ball — a dance
  5. face — part of the head
  6. race — a contest
  7. ball — a great time
  8. field — a subject
  9. face — to confront
  10. kid — to tease
  11. lean — to bend
  12. press — newspapers
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. race — the arms race
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. field — farmland
  18. press — a publisher
  19. lean — thin
  20. press — to push
  21. kid — child
  22. rule — a law
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. race — humankind

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