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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 116 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. fork — in a road
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. plane — a tool
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. net — in sport
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. spring — the season
  13. root — of a plant
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. root — of a word
  16. root — the cause
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — after costs
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. net — for catching
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spring — of water

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