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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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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 · march · row · board · game · plane · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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 click
  3. row — to paddle
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. march — music
  7. plane — a tool
  8. march — the month
  9. shower — rain
  10. row — a line
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. board — a committee
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. shower — to wash
  21. game — wild animals
  22. board — to get on
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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