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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. snap — to click
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. race — the arms race
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — to paddle
  9. face — to confront
  10. stock — goods
  11. face — part of the head
  12. row — a line
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. tear — to rip
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. stock — shares
  18. race — humankind
  19. tear — from crying
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. race — a contest
  23. face — to point toward
  24. march — music

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