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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bark — to shout
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. rest — what's left
  8. face — part of the head
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rest — a break
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. rash — hasty
  14. face — to confront
  15. plane — a tool
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rash — a series
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. face — to point toward
  21. lie — to recline
  22. spring — of water
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. plane — an aircraft

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