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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · plane · face · land · arm · bulb · fall · wax

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. land — to come down
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. face — to point toward
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. fall — the season
  7. land — a country
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. bulb — for light
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. cold — not warm
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bulb — for light
  18. land — ground
  19. fall — to drop
  20. face — to confront
  21. fall — to drop
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wax — to grow
  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