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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. stock — shares
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — a coil
  11. plane — a tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fall — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — goods
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. content — the amount
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. spring — the season
  24. calf — of the leg

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