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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. land — ground
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. present — there
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. land — a country
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. present — the time now
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. toast — bread
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wound — an injury
  18. plane — a tool
  19. face — to point toward
  20. land — to come down
  21. cold — an illness
  22. present — a gift
  23. wound — an injury
  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