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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. present — there
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. present — a gift
  5. wind — moving air
  6. present — the time now
  7. plane — a tool
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pass — a permit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — a video
  17. kid — child
  18. spring — of water
  19. clip — to cut
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. spring — a coil
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. spring — the season

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