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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. drill — army training
  3. net — for catching
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. file — a document
  7. face — part of the head
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. mine — for digging
  15. file — a line of people
  16. drill — the tool
  17. file — a tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. face — to point toward
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. face — to confront
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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