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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: sharp · kid · cold · straw · present · plane

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. sharp — clever
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. kid — child
  10. cold — an illness
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. present — there
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. present — a gift
  17. plane — a tool
  18. cold — not warm

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