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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: band · cell · calf · face · straw · fall · root · tear

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fall — the season
  3. tear — to rip
  4. band — a music group
  5. fall — to drop
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. tear — from crying
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. root — the cause
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. face — part of the head
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. root — of a word
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cell — in biology
  19. tear — from crying
  20. face — to point toward
  21. band — a ring
  22. fall — to drop
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. root — of a plant

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