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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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468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cabinet · pound · file · root · hand · straw · spring · face

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. face — to confront
  4. hand — help
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. face — to point toward
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. file — a line of people
  11. face — part of the head
  12. root — the cause
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. file — a document
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. root — of a plant
  19. hand — in cards
  20. root — of a word
  21. spring — the season
  22. file — a tool
  23. pound — a weight
  24. straw — dry grass

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