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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. tear — from crying
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. ball — a great time
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. track — a song
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ball — a dance
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. last — to go on
  15. kick — in football
  16. tear — to rip
  17. snap — to click
  18. plane — a tool
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. track — to keep track
  21. last — finally
  22. track — a path
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. racket — for tennis

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