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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 ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — a coil
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. hand — help
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. foot — a measure
  10. kid — child
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bark — to shout
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. staff — employees
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. plane — a tool
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. nail — for a hammer

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