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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. shower — rain
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. current — electric
  8. current — of water
  9. craft — a skill
  10. stand — to bear
  11. cold — an illness
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — a line
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. row — to paddle
  17. craft — boats
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. current — happening now
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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