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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: object · bat · shower · chair · cabinet · face · hide · pound

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. face — part of the head
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. object — an aim
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. chair — a leader
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. face — to confront
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. face — to point toward
  17. shower — rain
  18. bat — the animal
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. object — to protest
  22. object — a thing
  23. pound — a weight
  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