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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: file · wound · coach · face · land · spring · rash · racket

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. land — to come down
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. spring — a coil
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — ground
  12. face — part of the head
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. file — a line of people
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. rash — a series
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rash — hasty
  22. wound — an injury
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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