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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: wind · last · plane · row · date · drill · snap · ball

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. plane — a tool
  4. last — final
  5. ball — a dance
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. drill — a practice
  10. row — to paddle
  11. date — the fruit
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. last — to go on
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. drill — army training
  18. ball — a great time
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. last — finally
  22. snap — to click
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. drill — the tool

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