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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. bound — obliged
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — child
  6. sharp — clever
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wound — an injury
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. ground — a position
  15. plane — a tool
  16. shower — rain
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. bound — certain
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — in a road
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — to wash
  24. ground — the earth

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