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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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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: kid · plane · cabinet · spring · race · rash · perch · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. kid — to tease
  6. spring — the season
  7. kid — child
  8. club — a group
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rash — hasty
  13. race — the arms race
  14. rash — a series
  15. perch — the fish
  16. plane — a tool
  17. spring — a coil
  18. club — for golf
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. race — humankind
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. race — a contest
  23. spring — of water
  24. plane — in geometry

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