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

Word bank: kick · hide · cell · swing · bat · face

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bat — the animal
  3. face — part of the head
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. face — to point toward
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. swing — to play on
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cell — in biology
  18. face — to confront

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