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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: date · hand · kid · toast · bat · plane · field · object

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — farmland
  7. kid — to tease
  8. bat — the animal
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. object — to protest
  12. hand — help
  13. date — the fruit
  14. toast — bread
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. object — an aim
  17. field — a subject
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — a tool
  21. hand — in cards
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. object — a thing

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