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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. saw — the tool
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. face — to point toward
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mate — to breed
  7. game — a match
  8. face — to confront
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. track — a path
  12. track — a song
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. mate — a friend
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. face — part of the head
  17. file — a document
  18. mate — a partner
  19. track — to keep track
  20. wound — an injury
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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