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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 · straw · spell · wound · sharp · ground · craft · lie

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. face — to point toward
  3. spell — letters
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wound — an injury
  8. sharp — clever
  9. ground — the earth
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lie — to recline
  14. craft — a skill
  15. ground — a position
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. face — part of the head
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — to confront
  20. ground — crushed
  21. wound — an injury
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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