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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. march — music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. face — part of the head
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a line
  9. plane — a tool
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. march — the month
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. kid — to tease
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. kid — child
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. face — to confront
  23. snap — to click
  24. drill — army training

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