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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. ground — crushed
  3. fine — high quality
  4. cell — in biology
  5. current — electric
  6. clip — to cut
  7. wound — an injury
  8. current — happening now
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bound — tied together
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. clip — a video
  13. face — to point toward
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bound — certain
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. ground — a position
  19. face — to confront
  20. fine — all right
  21. bound — obliged
  22. current — of water
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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