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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. squash — the sport
  4. game — wild animals
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. face — to confront
  10. content — the amount
  11. face — to point toward
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — to crush
  14. content — happy
  15. face — part of the head
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. game — a match
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. ruler — for measuring

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