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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: pit · mug · shower · face · club · bowl · cold · chest

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. shower — to wash
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. mug — a cup
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. chest — of your body
  12. shower — rain
  13. pit — a hole
  14. face — to point toward
  15. pit — in a race
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. chest — a box
  19. cold — an illness
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — for dancing
  23. mug — to rob
  24. mug — a face

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