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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: hand · perch · mine · spring · dip · scale · lash · face

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. scale — size or range
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — a coil
  9. face — to point toward
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. dip — to sink
  12. spring — of water
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. scale — in music
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. spring — the season
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. face — to confront
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. face — part of the head
  24. mine — for digging

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