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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: face · mine · wave · bark · hand · bore · mug · clip

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  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. mug — a face
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. face — to confront
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bore — to drill
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. clip — a video
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mug — to rob
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mug — a cup
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bore — to tire
  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