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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wind — moving air
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. plane — a tool
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. ball — a great time
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — completely
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. spell — letters

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