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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. plane — a tool
  4. ground — crushed
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spell — a short time
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a great time
  11. shower — to wash
  12. spell — magic
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ground — a position
  16. shower — rain
  17. snap — to click
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cold — not warm
  21. spell — letters
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. ball — a dance

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