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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: plane · file · court · face · cue · mine · bat · net

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. cue — a hint
  3. net — for catching
  4. face — part of the head
  5. plane — a tool
  6. court — of law
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — the animal
  9. court — of a king
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cue — for pool
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. net — in sport
  16. file — a document
  17. cue — a signal
  18. face — to confront
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. net — after costs
  21. file — a line of people
  22. court — for sport
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. bat — in an idiom

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