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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: firm · face · clip · court · hand · pitcher · mine · saw

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. firm — steady
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — a video
  5. court — of law
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mine — for digging
  8. hand — help
  9. face — to point toward
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. face — to confront
  13. clip — for paper
  14. firm — a company
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. firm — decided
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. hand — in cards
  24. saw — 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