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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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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: face · pound · jam · clip · saw · roll · rule · mouse

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. saw — the tool
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. rule — a law
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. saw — the tool
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — to cut
  12. roll — a list
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. face — to point toward
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. face — to confront
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pound — a weight
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. clip — a video
  24. rule — government

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