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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: field · cell · face · bulb · fork · nail · content · date

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — to confront
  5. field — farmland
  6. bulb — for light
  7. date — the fruit
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. field — for sport
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. cell — in biology
  21. field — a subject
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cell — a phone

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