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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: temple · mate · lash · straw · mine · stem · bat · face

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. face — to confront
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. mine — for digging
  15. face — part of the head
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. face — to point toward
  24. stem — to come from

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