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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — to drop
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. field — a subject
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bass — the fish
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. bass — low music
  12. land — ground
  13. fall — to drop
  14. field — farmland
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. field — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. land — to come down
  21. chip — to eat
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. land — a country
  24. fall — the season

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