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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spring — of water
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. drill — a practice
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. fall — the season
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. fall — to drop
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. row — a line
  13. spring — a coil
  14. lie — to recline
  15. fall — to drop
  16. plane — a tool
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. row — to paddle
  20. drill — army training
  21. kid — to tease
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spring — the season
  24. drill — the tool

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