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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: mouse · hand · drill · file · face · roll · stock · court

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. roll — a cake
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. hand — in cards
  6. roll — a list
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. file — a document
  9. hand — help
  10. stock — goods
  11. court — of a king
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — of law
  14. face — to confront
  15. stock — shares
  16. court — for sport
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. face — part of the head

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