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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 116 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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. saw — the tool
  4. plane — a tool
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. court — of a king
  9. scale — in music
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. squash — to crush
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. squash — the sport
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. scale — size or range
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. court — for sport
  23. wind — moving air
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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