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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. pound — a weight
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. bulb — for light
  6. roll — a cake
  7. bulb — for light
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — to wash
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. shower — rain
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. kid — child
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. row — a line
  20. roll — a list
  21. row — to paddle
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wind — moving air

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