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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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Word bank
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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: plane · wind · land · chair · snap · ground

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. land — ground
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. ground — a position
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. snap — to click
  11. land — to come down
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — a country
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed

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