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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: band · board · face · track · rest · shower · bat · squash

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  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. track — a path
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rest — what's left
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. board — a committee
  9. rest — a break
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bat — the animal
  12. track — to keep track
  13. shower — rain
  14. board — to get on
  15. track — a song
  16. rest — what's left
  17. band — a ring
  18. squash — the sport
  19. band — a music group
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. board — a flat piece
  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