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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. last — final
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. spring — of water
  7. kid — child
  8. clip — a video
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. firm — a company
  12. firm — decided
  13. clip — to cut
  14. plane — a tool
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. last — to go on
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rush — hurry
  23. clip — for paper
  24. last — finally

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