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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — an illness
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. rock — a stone
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. plane — a tool
  8. rock — music
  9. shower — to wash
  10. ground — a position
  11. court — for sport
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. kid — child
  14. court — of a king
  15. ground — crushed
  16. kid — to tease
  17. ground — the earth
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. cold — not warm
  21. court — of law
  22. shower — rain
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. cold — the Cold War

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