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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.

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: shower · content · craft · face · plane · tear · spring · wax

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. content — happy
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. face — to point toward
  7. spring — of water
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. tear — from crying
  10. spring — the season
  11. shower — rain
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. craft — a skill
  16. face — to confront
  17. wax — to grow
  18. content — the amount
  19. spring — a coil
  20. shower — to wash
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. face — part of the head
  23. craft — boats
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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