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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: face · rest · stock · mate · drill · straw · hand · pound

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. stock — shares
  4. drill — army training
  5. hand — help
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. face — part of the head
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. pound — a weight
  11. face — to point toward
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mate — a partner
  14. face — to confront
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. drill — the tool
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — goods
  21. drill — a practice
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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