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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. face — to confront
  4. net — after costs
  5. scale — size or range
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. face — to point toward
  8. last — to go on
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — in sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. plane — a tool
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fork — in a road
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — for catching
  21. last — finally
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. plane — an aircraft

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