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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. spell — magic
  3. court — for sport
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. plane — a tool
  8. court — of law
  9. clip — a video
  10. last — to go on
  11. wind — moving air
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. court — of a king
  14. sharp — clever
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spell — letters
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wind — moving air
  19. last — finally
  20. spell — a short time
  21. last — final
  22. clip — to cut
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wind — to turn a key

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