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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 120 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: mark · chest · straw · face · hide · bat · ground · bay

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. chest — of your body
  7. face — to confront
  8. mark — a trace
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chest — a box
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. face — part of the head
  15. ground — a position
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. ground — the earth
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. chest — of your 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