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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 120 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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. last — final
  4. spring — the season
  5. plane — a tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. last — finally
  8. club — for dancing
  9. kid — to tease
  10. track — to keep track
  11. club — for golf
  12. last — to go on
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. club — a group
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. track — a song
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. scale — in music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. scale — size or range
  21. kid — child
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. sharp — clever
  24. scale — for weighing

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