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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. kid — child
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. fall — the season
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fall — to drop
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. plane — a tool
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. rash — hasty
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. game — a match
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rash — a series
  24. hand — help

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