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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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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 · chest · race · pound · plane · scale · cold · wound

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. face — part of the head
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. chest — of your body
  5. face — to confront
  6. chest — a box
  7. cold — an illness
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. scale — in music
  10. wound — an injury
  11. plane — a tool
  12. race — humankind
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — not warm
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pound — a weight
  22. wound — an injury
  23. face — to point toward
  24. pound — to hit hard

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