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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. band — a music group
  4. mine — for digging
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. scale — size or range
  7. sharp — clever
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. band — a ring
  10. bark — to shout
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. scale — in music
  14. race — a contest
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. race — the arms race
  18. face — to confront
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. race — humankind
  22. face — to point toward
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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