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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: march · cap · suit · kick · face · race · hand · bat

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. hand — help
  4. face — to point toward
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. face — part of the head
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. suit — to fit
  9. cap — of ice
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. race — a contest
  13. face — to confront
  14. bat — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. race — the arms race
  17. cap — a lid
  18. kick — in football
  19. suit — clothes
  20. suit — in cards
  21. race — humankind
  22. march — music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cap — a hat

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