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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. clip — for paper
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — an amount
  5. bank — for money
  6. kid — to tease
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. plane — a tool
  9. kid — child
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. hand — in cards
  12. degree — from a university
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bank — for money
  19. clip — to cut
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. clip — a video
  23. bank — of a river
  24. plane — in geometry

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