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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — to tease
  6. kid — child
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — for sport
  10. plane — a tool
  11. present — the time now
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. field — farmland
  14. present — there
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rest — a break
  20. snap — to click
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. rest — what's left
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. rest — what's left

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