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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. cell — a phone
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. last — to go on
  5. stock — shares
  6. snap — to click
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. perch — the fish
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. last — final
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fine — high quality
  16. face — to point toward
  17. fine — all right
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. face — to confront
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. stock — goods
  24. last — finally

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