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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: temple · row · face · wave · spell · straw · chest · season

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. face — to confront
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. row — a line
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. season — in sport
  17. chest — of your body
  18. face — part of the head
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. spell — letters
  21. chest — of your body
  22. face — to point toward
  23. chest — a box
  24. row — to paddle

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