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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — part of the head
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. chair — a leader
  7. perch — the fish
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. rush — hurry
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. spring — of water
  14. net — in sport
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. net — for catching
  19. mine — for digging
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. net — after costs
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. rush — a thrill

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