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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: dip · chair · content · ground · suit · hand · bark · face

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. hand — in cards
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. ground — a position
  6. suit — to fit
  7. face — part of the head
  8. face — to point toward
  9. dip — to sink
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bark — to shout
  15. ground — crushed
  16. content — the amount
  17. ground — the earth
  18. face — to confront
  19. chair — a leader
  20. hand — help
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. suit — in cards
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. hand — part of the body

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