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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. face — to point toward
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — the fish
  8. game — a match
  9. face — to confront
  10. bore — to drill
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. file — a tool
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bass — low music
  17. game — wild animals
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. stand — to bear
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — to breed
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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