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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rule — a law
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. rule — government
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. hand — help
  8. ground — the earth
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ground — a position
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. branch — a division
  14. spring — of water
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. ground — crushed
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. kid — to tease
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. hand — in cards
  24. plane — a tool

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