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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. squash — to crush
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. bat — the animal
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. file — a document
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. plane — a tool
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. plane — an aircraft

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