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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 hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. snap — to click
  3. last — to go on
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. last — final
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mark — a grade
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. last — finally
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. band — a ring
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. plane — a tool
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. tear — to rip
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. band — a music group

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