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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · field · court · cold · object · plane · lean · face

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. court — of a king
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. plane — a tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. field — a subject
  8. court — for sport
  9. object — to protest
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cold — an illness
  12. court — of law
  13. lean — thin
  14. object — a thing
  15. face — to confront
  16. lean — to bend
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. face — part of the head
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — for sport

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