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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. plane — a tool
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. row — a line
  5. chair — a leader
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — to paddle
  11. hand — in cards
  12. object — to protest
  13. field — for sport
  14. object — an aim
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. last — finally
  20. field — a subject
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. field — farmland
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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