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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. stem — to come from
  5. game — wild animals
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. march — music
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pit — a hole
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. pit — in a race
  13. game — a match
  14. board — a committee
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. file — a document
  19. march — the month
  20. snap — to click
  21. file — a line of people
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. board — to get on
  24. file — 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