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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: face · saw · clip · file · roll · lean · kid · racket

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. saw — the tool
  3. roll — a cake
  4. face — part of the head
  5. face — to confront
  6. clip — to cut
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. face — to point toward
  9. file — a document
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. file — a line of people
  16. saw — the tool
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. kid — to tease
  19. file — a tool
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. roll — a list
  22. lean — thin
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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