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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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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: cell · rest · bowl · face · kid · shower

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. rest — a break
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — to wash
  6. cell — in biology
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. face — to confront
  9. shower — rain
  10. face — to point toward
  11. rest — what's left
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cell — a phone

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