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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 120 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: drill · row · lean · clip · rash · wound · face · rock

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. face — to point toward
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rock — a stone
  6. face — part of the head
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. rash — a series
  9. lean — to bend
  10. clip — to cut
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. rock — music
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — an injury
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — a video
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. drill — army training
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. face — to confront
  21. drill — a practice
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wound — an injury
  24. drill — the tool

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