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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. 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. pop — music
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pop — to visit
  4. face — to confront
  5. court — of law
  6. pop — soda
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chest — a box
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. face — to point toward
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. chest — of your body
  13. drill — the tool
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. scale — in music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. court — of a king
  18. face — part of the head
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. drill — army training
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. court — for sport
  24. 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