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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. current — happening now
  3. land — to come down
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — an illness
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. face — to point toward
  11. mine — for digging
  12. current — electric
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. clip — a video
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. cold — not warm
  18. land — a country
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. current — of water
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. face — part of the head
  23. land — ground
  24. clip — to cut

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