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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. plane — a tool
  9. kid — child
  10. capital — a city
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. kid — to tease
  13. capital — money
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. firm — a company
  16. firm — steady
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. fork — in a road
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. firm — decided
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. row — to paddle

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