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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 · stock · bowl · shower · last · lie · race · plane

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. stock — goods
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. last — finally
  6. plane — a tool
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. lie — to recline
  9. face — to point toward
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. shower — to wash
  12. last — final
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. race — a contest
  18. last — to go on
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. face — to confront
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. stock — shares
  24. face — part of the head

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