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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. sharp — clever
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. kid — child
  6. current — happening now
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. plane — a tool
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. dip — to sink
  11. current — of water
  12. fall — to drop
  13. last — to go on
  14. fall — the season
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. current — electric
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — to tease
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. dip — to dunk

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