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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. present — there
  4. bat — the animal
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. fine — all right
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. sharp — clever
  15. kid — child
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. present — the time now
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. present — a gift
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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