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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: stem · chest · present · sharp · lean · shower · face · spell

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — part of the head
  4. present — a gift
  5. stem — to come from
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spell — a short time
  8. face — to point toward
  9. spell — magic
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. chest — a box
  12. present — there
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. lean — thin
  16. lean — to bend
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. chest — of your body
  19. spell — letters
  20. shower — rain
  21. present — the time now
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — clever

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