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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 124 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. net — in sport
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. net — after costs
  6. field — farmland
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. net — for catching
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. plane — a tool
  11. chair — a leader
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. field — for sport
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. squash — the sport
  19. squash — to crush
  20. field — a subject
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. pound — a weight
  24. calf — a young animal

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