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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: press · wave · lie · bass · wound · face · kid · drill

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lie — to recline
  3. bass — low music
  4. face — to confront
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bass — the fish
  9. press — a publisher
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. drill — the tool
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. drill — a practice
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. press — newspapers
  17. drill — army training
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. press — to push
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. face — to point toward
  24. lie — an untruth

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