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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: lie · face · coach · bark · ground · hand · date · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. snap — to click
  5. bark — to shout
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. ground — the earth
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. ground — crushed
  15. hand — help
  16. date — the fruit
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. face — to confront
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. lie — to recline
  24. ground — a position

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