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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. lean — to bend
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. lean — thin
  5. hand — help
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. snap — to click
  17. roll — a list
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. plane — a tool
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. degree — an amount

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