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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. face — to point toward
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. last — final
  5. band — a ring
  6. track — a path
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bark — to shout
  9. track — to keep track
  10. last — finally
  11. track — a song
  12. face — part of the head
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. last — to go on
  15. band — a music group
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. face — to confront
  20. snap — to click
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. mine — for digging

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