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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: saw · nail · file · mate · land · track · face · lie

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — a partner
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. lie — to recline
  7. land — ground
  8. track — to keep track
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. land — a country
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. face — part of the head
  13. file — a document
  14. saw — the tool
  15. file — a tool
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. track — a path
  18. face — to point toward
  19. file — a line of people
  20. track — a song
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. land — to come down

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