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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. face — to point toward
  3. tear — from crying
  4. face — to confront
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tear — to rip
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. season — of the year
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. chest — of your body
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cold — an illness
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. drill — army training
  17. season — in sport
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — part of the head
  21. file — a tool
  22. chest — a box
  23. tear — from crying
  24. file — a document

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