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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: roll · content · spell · patient · face · field · cold · nail

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — not warm
  3. field — for sport
  4. content — the amount
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. spell — magic
  9. roll — a cake
  10. spell — a short time
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. roll — a list
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. field — a subject
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. face — part of the head
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. spell — letters
  21. content — happy
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. face — to point toward
  24. cold — an illness

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