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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. track — a song
  6. scale — in music
  7. track — a path
  8. shower — rain
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bound — obliged
  14. cold — not warm
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bat — the animal
  17. shower — to wash
  18. track — to keep track
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bound — certain
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bound — tied together

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