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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: land · deal · face · fan · straw · lash · row · file

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. face — to confront
  3. land — ground
  4. row — a line
  5. face — to point toward
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. face — part of the head
  8. land — a country
  9. file — a tool
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a document
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. land — to come down
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. lash — to lash out

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