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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: dip · lie · can · bark · band · date · cold · face

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. can — a tin
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cold — not warm
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. band — a ring
  11. dip — to sink
  12. lie — to recline
  13. can — to be able to
  14. date — the fruit
  15. bark — to shout
  16. face — part of the head
  17. band — a music group
  18. face — to point toward
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. face — to confront
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. dip — a sauce

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