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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: mark · chest · bay · board · cell · straw · face · bat

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. mark — a trace
  3. chest — a box
  4. face — to confront
  5. board — to get on
  6. mark — a grade
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. face — to point toward
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. board — a committee
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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