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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: plane · bulb · chair · wave · fall · ground · bowl · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. ground — the earth
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. ground — a position
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. fall — the season
  16. bulb — for light
  17. kid — child
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. fall — to drop
  23. plane — a tool
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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