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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — a tool
  8. rest — a break
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spell — magic
  12. bat — the animal
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — a measure
  15. kid — child
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. rest — what's left
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. band — a music group
  22. spell — letters
  23. spell — a short time
  24. band — a ring

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