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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. mate — a friend
  2. face — to confront
  3. land — ground
  4. wound — an injury
  5. plane — a tool
  6. bank — for money
  7. file — a tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — a country
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bank — for money
  14. face — to point toward
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bank — of a river
  18. mate — to breed
  19. perch — the fish
  20. mate — a partner
  21. file — a document
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. land — to come down
  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