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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 120 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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. rest — a break
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a line
  5. net — after costs
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. field — farmland
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — a tool
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. branch — a division
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. row — to paddle
  20. field — for sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. hand — help
  24. pitcher — a jug

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