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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. bass — low music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. face — to point toward
  7. kid — child
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. kid — to tease
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. content — the amount
  16. face — to confront
  17. fall — the season
  18. stem — to come from
  19. game — wild animals
  20. content — happy
  21. bark — to shout
  22. game — a match
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. bark — of a tree

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