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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: bark · kid · press · nail · calf · spell · race · face

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  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. race — a contest
  2. kid — to tease
  3. face — to confront
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. press — a publisher
  6. spell — letters
  7. press — to push
  8. kid — child
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. press — newspapers
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — the arms race
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. spell — magic
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. face — to point toward
  23. spell — a short time
  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