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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. face — to point toward
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. saw — the tool
  11. face — to confront
  12. cold — not warm
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — an illness
  18. plane — a 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