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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. band — a music group
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — to point toward
  7. season — in sport
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. court — for sport
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spell — a short time
  14. season — of the year
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. court — of law
  19. spell — magic
  20. spell — letters
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. band — a ring
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. court — of a king

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