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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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468
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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fine — all right
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cold — an illness
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. clip — to cut
  11. snap — to click
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. fine — high quality
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. plane — a tool
  19. clip — a video
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. toast — bread
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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