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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: face · cell · field · band · chair · present · fan · tube

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. band — a music group
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cell — a phone
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — there
  7. chair — a leader
  8. present — the time now
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. field — a subject
  14. tube — a container
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. field — for sport
  17. cell — in biology
  18. tube — the underground
  19. band — a ring
  20. field — farmland
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. face — to point toward
  23. face — part of the head
  24. chair — a professorship

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