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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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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: mark · chest · file · face · bowl · cap · ground · cell

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. file — a document
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cap — of ice
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a line of people
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. mark — a trace
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cap — a lid
  20. file — a tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cell — in biology
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — part of the head

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