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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · stick · plane · squash · toast · kid

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. kid — to tease
  4. plane — a tool
  5. kid — child
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. squash — to crush
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. toast — bread
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. squash — the sport
  17. tear — to rip
  18. plane — an aircraft

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