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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. plane — a tool
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. field — farmland
  5. present — there
  6. shower — to wash
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kid — to tease
  9. object — an aim
  10. present — the time now
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. object — to protest
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. kid — child
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. object — a thing
  22. present — a gift
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. trunk — of a tree

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