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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. plane — a tool
  4. spell — a short time
  5. field — farmland
  6. bat — the animal
  7. field — a subject
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — for sport
  12. spell — letters
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. row — a line
  16. key — the most important part
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. spell — magic
  23. row — to paddle
  24. leaves — of a tree

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