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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: prune · squash · chair · face · saw · spring · plane · scale

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. prune — to trim
  4. saw — the tool
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. spring — of water
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. face — to point toward
  15. face — part of the head
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. chair — a leader
  18. plane — a tool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. scale — in music
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. scale — size or range
  24. saw — the tool

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