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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — to breed
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a line of people
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wind — moving air
  15. game — a match
  16. present — the time now
  17. cold — an illness
  18. sharp — clever
  19. present — there
  20. plane — a tool
  21. present — a gift
  22. file — a document
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — with an edge

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