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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. object — to protest
  3. object — an aim
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — to paddle
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. sharp — clever
  10. plane — a tool
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. saw — the tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. row — a line
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. perch — the fish
  21. date — the fruit
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — an aircraft

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