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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.

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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. pop — music
  3. snap — to click
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. roll — a cake
  7. pop — soda
  8. fork — in a road
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. plane — a tool
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. roll — a list
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pop — to visit

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