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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. tear — to rip
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. spring — the season
  9. tear — from crying
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. plane — a tool
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. snap — to click
  24. tear — from crying

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