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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. plane — a tool
  3. spell — magic
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. net — for catching
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. capital — money
  11. net — in sport
  12. root — the cause
  13. capital — a city
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. net — after costs
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. root — of a plant
  21. kid — child
  22. root — of a word
  23. spell — letters
  24. cold — an illness

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