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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. net — in sport
  4. snap — to click
  5. tube — the underground
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wound — an injury
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wound — an injury
  14. net — for catching
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. capital — a city
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. capital — money
  20. season — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. plane — a tool
  24. bay — a horse colour

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