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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. plane — a tool
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cue — for pool
  8. tear — from crying
  9. squash — the sport
  10. degree — temperature
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — to crush
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. staff — employees
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kid — to tease
  20. tear — to rip
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cue — a signal
  24. kid — child

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