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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — to go on
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. roll — a cake
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. deal — to handle
  9. hand — help
  10. face — to point toward
  11. last — finally
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. face — to confront
  15. mine — for digging
  16. pound — a weight
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. hand — in cards
  19. last — final
  20. face — part of the head
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. roll — a list

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