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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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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. plane — a tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lean — thin
  7. field — farmland
  8. lean — to bend
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. ball — a dance
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. cold — not warm
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. squash — to crush
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. ball — a great time
  24. squash — the sport

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