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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. row — to paddle
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. row — a line
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. face — part of the head
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. face — to point toward
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. face — to confront
  19. shower — rain
  20. plane — a tool
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — for paper
  24. plane — in geometry

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