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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cell — a phone
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. hand — help
  12. scale — in music
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. hand — in cards
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bat — the animal
  17. band — a ring
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. band — a music group
  20. wake — a trail
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — to point toward
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cabinet — ministers

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