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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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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: tear · mark · bay · face · rash · kid · straw · band

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. rash — a series
  3. band — a ring
  4. kid — child
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. mark — a trace
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. rash — hasty
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. tear — from crying
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. band — a music group
  20. face — to confront
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. face — part of the head
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mark — a grade

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