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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: coach · race · clip · file · face · kid · lean · deal

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. face — part of the head
  3. clip — a video
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. deal — to handle
  7. kid — to tease
  8. lean — to bend
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. kid — child
  12. race — humankind
  13. lean — thin
  14. face — to point toward
  15. clip — to cut
  16. face — to confront
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — for paper
  21. race — the arms race
  22. file — a document
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — a contest

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