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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
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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: hide · wave · fork · face · hand · content · chest · rash

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. rash — hasty
  3. hand — help
  4. face — to point toward
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chest — of your body
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. rash — a series
  10. face — to confront
  11. chest — a box
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. content — happy
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. face — part of the head
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. content — the amount
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. content — videos and posts

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