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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. track — a song
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. swing — to play on
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. cold — not warm
  10. drill — a practice
  11. rest — what's left
  12. drill — army training
  13. face — part of the head
  14. rest — what's left
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. drill — the tool
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — an illness
  20. face — to confront
  21. track — a path
  22. track — to keep track
  23. swing — in golf
  24. swing — music

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