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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. cap — a hat
  6. plane — a tool
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bat — the animal
  9. march — music
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cap — of ice
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. snap — to click
  14. cap — a lid
  15. wind — moving air
  16. march — the month
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. march — the month
  23. bear — the animal
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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