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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 116 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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to click
  3. shower — rain
  4. chip — to eat
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. plane — a tool
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. fall — the season
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. shower — to wash
  19. saw — the tool
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. chip — for betting
  22. saw — the tool
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. plane — an aircraft

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