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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: face · game · wound · lie · kick · ground · foot · pop

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  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. game — a kind of play
  2. ground — a position
  3. pop — to visit
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. pop — music
  6. game — a match
  7. pop — soda
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. lie — to recline
  12. kick — in football
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. ground — crushed
  21. foot — a measure
  22. ground — the earth
  23. game — wild animals
  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