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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. pitch — completely
  8. drill — army training
  9. ground — crushed
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. wake — a trail
  12. plane — a tool
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. drill — the tool
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. drill — a practice
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. kid — child
  24. branch — a division

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