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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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. swing — in golf
  2. land — ground
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. land — a country
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wound — an injury
  9. swing — music
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tube — the underground
  13. kid — child
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. land — to come down
  16. swing — to play on
  17. tube — a container
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. row — a line
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bear — the animal
  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