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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — child
  11. pop — soda
  12. kid — to tease
  13. plane — a tool
  14. hand — in cards
  15. degree — temperature
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. race — humankind
  18. pop — music
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the sport
  21. dip — to sink
  22. race — a contest
  23. race — the arms race
  24. plane — an aircraft

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