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

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. present — a gift
  3. fine — high quality
  4. band — a ring
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. band — a music group
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. fine — all right
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. craft — boats
  15. wind — moving air
  16. kid — child
  17. plane — a tool
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. craft — a skill
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. present — there
  23. kid — to tease
  24. present — the time now

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