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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: bat · mate · face · lash · straw · staff · content · bark

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. mate — a partner
  6. face — to confront
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. content — the amount
  10. mate — a friend
  11. staff — employees
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — the animal
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. face — part of the head
  18. mate — to breed
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. staff — employees
  24. bat — for baseball

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