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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. scale — in music
  3. net — for catching
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cold — an illness
  6. saw — the tool
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. net — after costs
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. game — wild animals
  18. saw — the tool
  19. plane — a tool
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. scale — size or range
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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