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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. last — final
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. face — to confront
  5. kid — to tease
  6. last — to go on
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. kid — child
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. face — part of the head
  14. chest — of your body
  15. last — finally
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. plane — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. face — to point toward
  23. squash — the sport
  24. chest — a box

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