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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 120 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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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: bay · sharp · face · hand · rush · mine · ground · straw

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. rush — hurry
  2. face — to confront
  3. ground — the earth
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. ground — crushed
  8. sharp — clever
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. ground — a position
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hand — help
  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