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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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468
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: season · spell · band · rest · face · pop · fall · cell

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. band — a ring
  5. spell — letters
  6. face — to confront
  7. spell — magic
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spell — a short time
  11. rest — a break
  12. season — in sport
  13. pop — music
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fall — to drop
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rest — what's left
  18. band — a music group
  19. pop — soda
  20. rest — what's left
  21. face — part of the head
  22. season — of the year
  23. fall — the season
  24. cell — a phone

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