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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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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 · perch · net · lean · mate · straw · drill · cell

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. drill — the tool
  4. lean — to bend
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. net — in sport
  7. mate — a friend
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cell — a phone
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. perch — the fish
  12. face — to point toward
  13. lean — thin
  14. net — for catching
  15. mate — a partner
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. drill — army training
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. net — after costs
  20. cell — in biology
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. drill — a practice
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. mate — to breed

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