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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. kid — child
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fine — high quality
  6. pop — soda
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. snap — to click
  13. pop — to visit
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. pop — music
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a 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