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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: shower · snap · saw · calf · bat · plane · last · wake

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. shower — rain
  4. last — final
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. wake — a trail
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. plane — a tool
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. last — finally
  12. saw — the tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. shower — to wash
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. last — to go on
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — of the leg

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