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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. sharp — clever
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. clip — to cut
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cold — not warm
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. clip — for paper
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. stock — goods
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. clip — a video
  21. plane — a tool
  22. stock — shares
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ruler — for measuring

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