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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: coach · chest · face · plane · net · bulb · cold · row

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. face — to confront
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bulb — for light
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. chest — of your body
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. face — to point toward
  12. net — after costs
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — a line
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bulb — for light
  17. net — in sport
  18. chest — a box
  19. cold — an illness
  20. plane — a tool
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. net — for catching
  24. bulb — of a plant

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