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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. dip — to sink
  4. face — part of the head
  5. clip — for paper
  6. face — to confront
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. face — to point toward
  9. clip — to cut
  10. ground — a position
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. last — final
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. plane — a tool
  16. last — finally
  17. snap — to click
  18. land — a country
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. last — to go on
  21. clip — a video
  22. ground — crushed
  23. land — to come down
  24. ground — the earth

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