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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 116 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: hand · bat · rush · sharp · wind · bound · stand · face

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stand — to bear
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bound — tied together
  8. hand — in cards
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. sharp — clever
  11. face — to point toward
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. bat — the animal
  17. face — to confront
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. bound — obliged
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bound — certain
  24. sharp — with an edge

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