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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: row · cold · rock · face · rest · bat · land · plane

  1. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. row — a line
  3. rest — what's left
  4. face — to point toward
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. face — to confront
  11. plane — a tool
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — a break
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — the animal
  19. row — to paddle
  20. rest — what's left
  21. face — part of the head
  22. land — a country
  23. rock — music
  24. land — ground

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