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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 120 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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fall — the season
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. spring — a coil
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. sharp — clever
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. prune — to trim
  18. cue — a hint
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. fall — to drop
  23. row — to paddle
  24. plane — a tool

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