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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — in geometry
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rock — music
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. tear — from crying
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. object — an aim
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. tear — to rip
  20. degree — from a university
  21. rock — a stone
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. degree — temperature
  24. plane — a 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