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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: field · mate · face · bulb · cell · pop · present · bat

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pop — soda
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pop — to visit
  8. cell — a phone
  9. face — part of the head
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — there
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. mate — a partner
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. field — for sport
  21. pop — music
  22. present — the time now
  23. bulb — for light
  24. mate — a friend

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