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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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. date — on the calendar
  3. game — a match
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. date — the fruit
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. game — wild animals
  9. foot — a measure
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bear — the animal
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bear — the animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cold — an illness
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. plane — a tool

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