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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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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: bowl · hide · tear · mine · chest · roll · face · bat

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bat — the animal
  5. roll — a list
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. roll — a cake
  8. face — part of the head
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. chest — a box
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. face — to point toward
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bowl — a dish

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