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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.

Words on the sheet
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: face · sharp · toast · calf · capital · bat · march · lash

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. face — to point toward
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. face — to confront
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. march — music
  13. toast — bread
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. capital — a city
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — money
  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