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

Word bank: season · drill · stick · face · land · saw · bay · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. saw — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. kid — child
  6. drill — a practice
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. face — to confront
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. season — of the year
  12. land — a country
  13. land — ground
  14. saw — the tool
  15. drill — the tool
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. season — in sport
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. face — part of the head
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. face — to point toward

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