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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: cap · squash · deal · straw · fan · track · face · chest

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. face — to confront
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. face — to point toward
  5. track — a song
  6. squash — the sport
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cap — a hat
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. chest — a box
  12. face — part of the head
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. cap — a lid
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. chest — of your body
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. deal — to handle
  21. track — a path
  22. squash — to crush
  23. cap — of ice
  24. track — to keep track

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