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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. plane — a tool
  3. rash — a series
  4. clip — to cut
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. branch — a division
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. field — farmland
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — a video
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. clip — for paper

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