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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. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. last — to go on
  3. scale — size or range
  4. last — final
  5. plane — a tool
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spring — the season
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. last — finally
  13. row — a line
  14. file — a line of people
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spring — of water
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — temperature
  20. file — a document
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. spring — a coil
  23. degree — an amount
  24. file — a tool

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