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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 train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. net — for catching
  3. cell — in biology
  4. plane — a tool
  5. stand — to bear
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. cell — a phone
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. net — after costs
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. march — the month
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. fork — in a road
  18. kid — child
  19. net — in sport
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. kid — to tease

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