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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. plane — a tool
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. drill — a practice
  8. press — to push
  9. cold — not warm
  10. drill — the tool
  11. press — a publisher
  12. face — to confront
  13. lean — thin
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. press — newspapers
  19. wax — to grow
  20. wound — an injury
  21. face — to point toward
  22. drill — army training
  23. wound — an injury
  24. face — part of the head

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