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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 116 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: shower · clip · face · plane · press · snap · mark · wake

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. face — to point toward
  3. shower — rain
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mark — a trace
  12. face — to confront
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mark — a grade
  15. clip — for paper
  16. press — to push
  17. face — part of the head
  18. shower — to wash
  19. snap — to click
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — a tool
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wake — a trail
  24. press — newspapers

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