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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: chair · kid · cap · land · plane · track · racket · spell

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chair — a leader
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. track — a path
  9. spell — letters
  10. spell — magic
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cap — of ice
  13. track — a song
  14. plane — a tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. track — to keep track
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. land — a country
  21. cap — a hat
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. spell — a short time
  24. cap — a lid

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