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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. plane — a tool
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. firm — decided
  7. present — a gift
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. firm — a company
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — there
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. tear — from crying
  18. present — the time now
  19. tear — to rip
  20. firm — steady
  21. snap — to click
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tear — from crying

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