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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — a contest
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. tear — to rip
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — ground
  9. land — a country
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. perch — the fish
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — hurry
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. tear — from crying
  19. race — the arms race
  20. chip — for betting
  21. plane — a tool
  22. chip — to eat
  23. land — to come down
  24. plane — in geometry

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