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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 120 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: plane · drill · suit · last · file · cold · lie · ground

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. last — final
  3. cold — an illness
  4. suit — clothes
  5. file — a document
  6. cold — not warm
  7. last — to go on
  8. drill — a practice
  9. suit — in cards
  10. suit — to fit
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. file — a tool
  14. last — finally
  15. ground — crushed
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. file — a line of people
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. lie — to recline
  24. cold — the Cold War

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