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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 · mate · kid · row · degree · face · date · spell

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. spell — magic
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. mate — to breed
  6. date — the fruit
  7. face — to confront
  8. spell — a short time
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. face — to point toward
  11. mate — a friend
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mate — a partner
  14. face — part of the head
  15. degree — an amount
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. row — a line
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. degree — temperature
  21. kid — to tease
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. spell — letters
  24. degree — from a university

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