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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: face · cabinet · degree · straw · bulb · rush · bat · chest

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. rush — hurry
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bulb — for light
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chest — of your body
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. degree — an amount
  15. face — to point toward
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. degree — temperature
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. rush — a thrill

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