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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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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: cold · mouse · land · rule · kid · saw · present · plane

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. present — a gift
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. kid — child
  8. land — a country
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — not warm
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. present — the time now
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rule — government
  20. land — ground
  21. saw — the tool
  22. present — there
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mouse — for a computer

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