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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. kid — child
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — to tease
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. court — of law
  15. row — a line
  16. degree — from a university
  17. court — for sport
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — an amount
  20. court — of a king
  21. wind — moving air
  22. row — to paddle
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wind — moving air

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