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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: face · bass · content · stem · bark · chest · pitch · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. face — to confront
  3. content — happy
  4. face — part of the head
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bass — low music
  11. chest — a box
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. content — the amount
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. face — to point toward
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. stem — to come from
  24. chest — of your body

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