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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. ground — crushed
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. pit — in a race
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. bat — the animal
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ground — the earth
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. plane — a tool
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. snap — to click
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. ground — a position

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