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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. wind — moving air
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. plane — a tool
  5. mate — a partner
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mate — a friend
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — a line
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wind — moving air
  14. track — a path
  15. track — a song
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. mate — to breed
  18. tear — from crying
  19. track — to keep track
  20. row — to paddle
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. game — a match
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — to rip

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