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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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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: plane · fan · last · bear · field · face · ground · lie

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. plane — a tool
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. last — to go on
  7. bear — the animal
  8. ground — the earth
  9. last — final
  10. face — to confront
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. ground — a position
  13. last — finally
  14. field — farmland
  15. bear — the animal
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. field — a subject
  19. lie — to recline
  20. field — for sport
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. ground — crushed

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