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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 116 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. snap — to click
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ball — a great time
  5. face — to confront
  6. stock — goods
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. file — a tool
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ball — a dance
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. face — to point toward
  17. hand — help
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. stock — shares

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