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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 carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — for paper
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. track — a song
  10. track — to keep track
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. spring — the season
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spring — of water
  17. clip — a video
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. hand — help
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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