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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kid — child
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. face — to confront
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. face — part of the head
  11. clip — a video
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. last — to go on
  15. kid — to tease
  16. clip — to cut
  17. face — to point toward
  18. plane — a tool
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. clip — for paper
  21. foot — a measure
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bat — the animal

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