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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. scale — in music
  3. plane — a tool
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. sharp — clever
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. bound — obliged
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. shower — rain
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wake — a trail
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. degree — from a university
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bound — tied together
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. degree — an amount
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bound — certain

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