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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: face · cold · drill · firm · clip · ruler · date · plane

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. firm — steady
  9. clip — a video
  10. cold — an illness
  11. drill — army training
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. face — part of the head
  15. cold — not warm
  16. date — the fruit
  17. clip — for paper
  18. firm — a company
  19. clip — to cut
  20. drill — a practice
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. drill — the tool
  24. firm — decided

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