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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. current — of water
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bat — the animal
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. spell — magic
  9. current — happening now
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. current — electric
  14. shower — rain
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. cold — an illness
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. spell — letters
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cold — not warm

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