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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. plane — a tool
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. fall — to drop
  7. game — a match
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pit — a hole
  13. hand — help
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. mark — a trace
  16. rush — hurry
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. mark — a grade
  19. hand — in cards
  20. pit — in a race
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fall — the season

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