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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: rest · bat · band · wake · dip · land · face · kick

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. bat — the animal
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. band — a music group
  8. face — to confront
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. dip — to sink
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. rest — what's left
  15. land — a country
  16. face — to point toward
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rest — a break
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wake — a trail
  21. band — a ring
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bat — for baseball
  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