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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. face — to confront
  4. drill — the tool
  5. face — to point toward
  6. perch — the fish
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — an illness
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. drill — army training
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. chest — of your body
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chest — a box
  20. plane — a tool
  21. face — part of the head
  22. drill — a practice
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fan — to cool the air

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