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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kid — child
  9. shower — rain
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. race — a contest
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chest — a box
  15. shower — to wash
  16. chair — a leader
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. race — the arms race
  19. plane — a tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — humankind

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