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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. wound — an injury
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. drill — a practice
  5. plane — a tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. face — to point toward
  9. drill — army training
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. drill — the tool
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cold — not warm

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