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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — rain
  7. kid — to tease
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stem — to come from
  10. shower — to wash
  11. wind — moving air
  12. prune — to trim
  13. kid — child
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. plane — a tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wind — to turn a key

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