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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rock — music
  5. hand — help
  6. row — a line
  7. field — for sport
  8. tube — the underground
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. tube — a container
  14. rock — a stone
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — a tool
  17. field — a subject
  18. date — the fruit
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. rock — to move gently

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