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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — ground
  5. hand — in cards
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. hand — help
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. scale — in music
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. land — to come down
  13. lie — to recline
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. can — a tin
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. scale — size or range
  19. rock — a stone
  20. plane — a tool
  21. can — a tin
  22. rock — music
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. land — a country

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