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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 120 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: face · coach · snap · bark · chest · court · temple · lash

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. face — part of the head
  3. snap — to click
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. court — of a king
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. chest — of your body
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chest — a box
  16. court — of law
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. face — to confront
  20. face — to point toward
  21. chest — of your body
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. court — for sport
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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