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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lean · cell · sharp · file · clip · squash · mine · face

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. file — a tool
  3. face — part of the head
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. face — to confront
  7. clip — a video
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cell — a phone
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lean — thin
  15. cell — in biology
  16. squash — to crush
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. file — a document
  19. face — to point toward
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. mine — for digging
  22. squash — the sport
  23. file — a line of people
  24. clip — to cut

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