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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: hand · plane · key · ground · spring · face · perch · chest

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. ground — a position
  5. hand — help
  6. plane — a tool
  7. ground — the earth
  8. spring — the season
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. key — the most important part
  11. spring — a coil
  12. key — in music
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. key — for a lock
  15. face — to point toward
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — of water
  19. perch — the fish
  20. face — part of the head
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hand — in cards
  23. ground — crushed
  24. chest — a box

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