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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. track — to keep track
  3. plane — a tool
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bound — certain
  9. track — a path
  10. bound — tied together
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. shower — rain
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — child
  15. last — final
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. track — a song
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. last — finally
  23. last — to go on
  24. plane — an aircraft

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