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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. row — a line
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. clip — to cut
  5. hand — help
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — from a university
  12. plane — a tool
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — for paper
  15. row — to paddle
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. degree — an amount
  21. clip — a video
  22. perch — the fish
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chair — a leader

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