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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. stem — to come from
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. spring — of water
  9. snap — to click
  10. plane — a tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. bat — the animal
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. clip — a video
  21. rule — government
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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