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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 116 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. mate — a partner
  3. ground — a position
  4. mate — to breed
  5. drill — army training
  6. face — part of the head
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. scale — in music
  9. ground — the earth
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. mate — a friend
  12. press — newspapers
  13. plane — a tool
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cold — an illness
  17. scale — size or range
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — crushed
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. cold — not warm

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