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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. net — after costs
  3. last — finally
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. last — final
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. net — in sport
  10. last — to go on
  11. degree — temperature
  12. plane — a tool
  13. squash — to crush
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. net — for catching
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. rule — government
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. fork — in a road
  22. rule — a law
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. squash — the sport

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