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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 · ground · plane · lie · key · shower · chair · clip

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. shower — to wash
  4. ground — the earth
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. key — in music
  9. kid — child
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. shower — rain
  14. key — for a lock
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. lie — to recline
  17. kid — to tease
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. clip — to cut
  21. ground — a position
  22. key — the most important part
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. plane — a tool

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