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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: tear · face · game · row · straw · pitcher · wave · temple

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. row — a line
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. tear — from crying
  13. face — to confront
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. row — to paddle
  18. tear — to rip
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. game — a match
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pitcher — a jug

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