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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bat — the animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spell — magic
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. object — a thing
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. object — an aim
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. spell — letters
  19. file — a document
  20. rush — hurry
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. plane — a tool
  24. last — finally

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