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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 120 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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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: firm · shower · wave · bark · arm · bat · press · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. firm — steady
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. press — newspapers
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. face — to point toward
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. press — a publisher
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. shower — rain
  23. face — part of the head
  24. press — to push

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