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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. spell — a short time
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — magic
  6. plane — a tool
  7. cell — in biology
  8. roll — a cake
  9. spring — of water
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. face — to confront
  13. bark — to shout
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. face — part of the head
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. spring — the season
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. roll — a list
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. spring — a coil
  24. cell — a phone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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