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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 don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. snap — to click
  4. court — of law
  5. kid — to tease
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. court — for sport
  8. last — finally
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. court — of a king
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. plane — a tool
  15. last — final
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. shower — rain
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — to wash
  21. kid — child
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. last — to go on

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