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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: pass · bat · dip · face · hand · kick · bowl · snap

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. face — to point toward
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. face — part of the head
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. hand — in cards
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. face — to confront
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. hand — help
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bat — the animal
  16. dip — to sink
  17. pass — a permit
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to click
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. kick — in football
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. bat — for baseball

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