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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: press · court · land · wind · rush · face · jam · plane

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. face — to confront
  3. land — to come down
  4. face — part of the head
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. court — of a king
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. land — ground
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — a tool
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. court — for sport
  17. land — a country
  18. court — of law
  19. rush — hurry
  20. wind — moving air
  21. face — to point toward
  22. press — a publisher
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. press — newspapers

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