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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: plane · pop · fall · mouse · kid · object · chest · spell

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pop — music
  4. fall — to drop
  5. object — to protest
  6. chest — of your body
  7. object — an aim
  8. kid — child
  9. object — a thing
  10. fall — to drop
  11. spell — letters
  12. spell — magic
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. spell — a short time
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. pop — soda
  23. fall — the season
  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