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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. mate — to breed
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. dip — to sink
  12. mate — a partner
  13. kid — to tease
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. mate — a friend
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. kid — child
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. fall — to drop
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. fall — to drop

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