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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: land · mark · kick · plane · leaves · wind · prune · chest

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. land — a country
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — in football
  6. land — ground
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. prune — to trim
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. prune — to trim
  18. mark — a trace
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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