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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. present — a gift
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. snap — to click
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pop — soda
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. pop — music
  19. present — the time now
  20. plane — a tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. pop — to visit
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. present — there

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