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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 116 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. swing — in golf
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. kid — to tease
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. sharp — clever
  8. march — music
  9. ball — a great time
  10. swing — to play on
  11. lean — to bend
  12. march — the month
  13. plane — a tool
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. bark — to shout
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. march — the month
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. swing — music
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. ball — a dance
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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