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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. lie — to recline
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. ground — the earth
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. ground — a position
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. march — music
  14. ground — crushed
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. plane — a tool
  20. march — the month
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wound — an injury
  24. face — to confront

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