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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. lean — thin
  4. stock — goods
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. court — of law
  7. current — electric
  8. field — farmland
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. current — happening now
  11. field — a subject
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. lean — to bend
  14. stock — shares
  15. shower — to wash
  16. current — of water
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. shower — rain
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. court — for sport
  22. field — for sport
  23. court — of a king
  24. plane — a tool

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