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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · plane · chest · wound · fork · race

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wound — an injury
  5. club — for golf
  6. fork — in a road
  7. race — the arms race
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chest — a box
  15. race — a contest
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. plane — a tool
  18. race — humankind

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