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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. club — a group
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cold — an illness
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. band — a music group
  9. fall — the season
  10. club — for dancing
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. fall — to drop
  13. club — for golf
  14. band — a ring
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — not warm
  17. row — a line
  18. plane — a tool
  19. stem — to come from
  20. pound — a weight
  21. fall — to drop
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. row — to paddle
  24. stem — of a plant

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