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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. band — a ring
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. last — final
  5. plane — a tool
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. kid — child
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. root — the cause
  11. root — of a word
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. band — a music group
  15. net — after costs
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. ball — a dance
  18. last — finally
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. root — of a plant
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. last — to go on
  24. kid — to tease

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