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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 120 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. face — to point toward
  3. plane — a tool
  4. firm — a company
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. wound — an injury
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. firm — decided
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bass — low music
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. face — to confront
  19. firm — steady
  20. face — part of the head
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bass — the fish

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