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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 · stick · straw · rule · racket · roll · bat · ground

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. face — to confront
  3. ground — the earth
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. rule — a law
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. roll — a list
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rule — government
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ground — a position

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