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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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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: tear · snap · row · leaves · land · plane · bowl · cap

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. snap — to click
  3. cap — a hat
  4. land — to come down
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. plane — a tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. tear — to rip
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. land — a country
  14. cap — of ice
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. land — ground
  21. cap — a lid
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bowl — to roll

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