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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: chest · dip · last · face · kick · straw · field · bulb

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. face — part of the head
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. chest — a box
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bulb — for light
  11. field — a subject
  12. last — finally
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bulb — for light
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. chest — of your body
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. face — to confront
  23. dip — to sink
  24. kick — in football

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