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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. ground — a position
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. row — a line
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. ground — the earth
  13. plane — a tool
  14. kick — in football
  15. pop — to visit
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pop — soda
  18. row — to paddle
  19. snap — to click
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. shower — rain
  22. pop — music
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. plane — an aircraft

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