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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. net — in sport
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. pop — music
  7. spring — a coil
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. net — after costs
  11. plane — a tool
  12. face — part of the head
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — of water
  15. stem — to come from
  16. squash — the sport
  17. spring — the season
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. squash — to crush
  20. pop — to visit
  21. tube — a container
  22. pop — soda
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. plane — in geometry

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