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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. present — a gift
  3. game — a match
  4. present — there
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. track — to keep track
  7. plane — a tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. game — wild animals
  13. present — the time now
  14. row — a line
  15. track — a path
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. row — to paddle
  18. lash — a whip stroke

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