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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 116 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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cold — not warm
  5. face — to point toward
  6. saw — the tool
  7. face — to confront
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. plane — a tool
  20. face — part of the head
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. wake — a trail
  23. snap — to click
  24. dip — to sink

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