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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rock — a stone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. rash — hasty
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. chest — of your body
  10. plane — a tool
  11. wax — to grow
  12. kid — child
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pit — a hole
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rash — a series
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. rock — music
  22. pit — in a race
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. chest — a box

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