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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. field — farmland
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. pass — a permit
  10. saw — the tool
  11. court — of a king
  12. field — a subject
  13. saw — the tool
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. court — for sport
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. pitch — completely
  18. plane — a tool
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. court — of law
  23. field — for sport
  24. kid — child

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