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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: rest · land · content · face · snap · deal · wake · mate

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — to breed
  3. face — to point toward
  4. rest — a break
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wake — a trail
  9. land — a country
  10. content — happy
  11. land — ground
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. mate — a partner
  16. snap — to click
  17. deal — to handle
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — part of the head
  20. land — to come down
  21. rest — what's left
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. content — the amount
  24. content — videos and posts

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