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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. race — a contest
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. face — to confront
  6. snap — to click
  7. squash — the sport
  8. game — wild animals
  9. face — part of the head
  10. race — the arms race
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. season — of the year
  13. squash — to crush
  14. face — to point toward
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. game — a match
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. season — in sport
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. dip — to sink
  22. race — humankind
  23. dip — to dunk
  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