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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: date · ground · shower · pitcher · face · cell · last · calf

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. face — to confront
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. ground — crushed
  7. last — finally
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. last — final
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. last — to go on
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. date — the fruit
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — to wash
  18. ground — the earth
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. ground — a position
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cell — in a prison
  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