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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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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: press · last · face · pit · snap · plane · scale · race

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. last — finally
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. last — final
  9. plane — a tool
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. press — a publisher
  13. race — the arms race
  14. scale — size or range
  15. face — to point toward
  16. press — newspapers
  17. face — to confront
  18. pit — in a race
  19. last — to go on
  20. press — to push
  21. scale — in music
  22. face — part of the head
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. snap — to click

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