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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. tear — to rip
  2. snap — to click
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. current — of water
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — music
  11. shower — rain
  12. march — the month
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — an amount
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — in a race
  19. current — electric
  20. current — happening now
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pit — a hole
  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