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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: face · hide · deal · content · date · band · straw · bark

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — to point toward
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. band — a ring
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bark — to shout
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. face — part of the head
  17. content — happy
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. deal — to handle
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. band — a music group
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. date — the fruit

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