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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: dip · chest · shower · rest · mate · face · net · field

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. net — after costs
  3. mate — to breed
  4. rest — what's left
  5. field — farmland
  6. face — part of the head
  7. rest — a break
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. net — in sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. mate — a partner
  13. dip — to sink
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. face — to point toward
  16. shower — rain
  17. field — for sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mate — a friend
  21. face — to confront
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. net — for catching
  24. chest — of your body

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