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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kid — child
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. kid — to tease
  6. shower — rain
  7. lean — to bend
  8. plane — a tool
  9. lean — thin
  10. stock — goods
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. stock — shares
  14. degree — temperature
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mate — a friend
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. mate — a partner
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. degree — from a university
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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