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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · sharp · spell · date · drill · plane · tear · court

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — army training
  5. sharp — clever
  6. spell — a short time
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. tear — from crying
  9. date — the fruit
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. court — for sport
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wake — a trail
  17. plane — a tool
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. court — of law
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. spell — magic
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. court — of a king

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