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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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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: race · cell · club · face · trunk · last · bowl · hand

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. club — for golf
  3. last — final
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. cell — in biology
  7. last — to go on
  8. club — for dancing
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. face — to confront
  12. race — humankind
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. last — finally
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cell — a phone
  21. club — a group
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. face — to point toward

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