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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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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: shower · face · ball · clip · mark · lie · foot · cell

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ball — a great time
  4. foot — a measure
  5. face — to confront
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. cell — in biology
  8. clip — a video
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lie — to recline
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mark — a trace
  15. shower — rain
  16. clip — for paper
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mark — a grade
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. lie — an untruth

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