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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: tube · date · hand · mine · face · squash · roll · ground

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. ground — a position
  3. squash — the sport
  4. ground — crushed
  5. squash — to crush
  6. roll — a cake
  7. mine — for digging
  8. tube — a container
  9. face — part of the head
  10. tube — the underground
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. date — the fruit
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. ground — the earth
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. face — to confront
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. roll — a list
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. hand — help

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