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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. bat — the animal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. drill — army training
  7. mate — a friend
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wind — moving air
  10. mate — a partner
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. hand — in cards
  13. plane — a tool
  14. stem — to come from
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mate — to breed
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. hand — help
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. hand — part of the body

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