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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — a position
  3. face — to confront
  4. wound — an injury
  5. face — part of the head
  6. land — a country
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. face — to point toward
  9. track — a path
  10. track — to keep track
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. track — a song
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. land — to come down
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. plane — a tool
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. wound — an injury

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