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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. face — to point toward
  3. deal — to handle
  4. chair — a leader
  5. file — a line of people
  6. last — final
  7. plane — a tool
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. last — finally
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. saw — the tool
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. face — to confront
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. face — part of the head
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. rash — a series
  22. last — to go on
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. deal — an agreement

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