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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: stem · chest · squash · bat · can · face · roll · tear

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. squash — to crush
  3. face — part of the head
  4. roll — a cake
  5. tear — to rip
  6. chest — a box
  7. tear — from crying
  8. squash — the sport
  9. can — to be able to
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. face — to point toward
  15. can — a tin
  16. stem — to come from
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chest — of your body
  21. can — a tin
  22. tear — from crying
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. roll — a list

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