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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 116 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: ball · mate · bat · shower · mark · stem · object · face

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. object — to protest
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. mark — a trace
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. shower — rain
  8. face — to confront
  9. ball — a dance
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mark — a grade
  12. bat — the animal
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mate — to breed
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. face — to point toward
  19. object — a thing
  20. stem — to come from
  21. object — an aim
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mate — a partner
  24. bat — for baseball

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