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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 · game · row · leaves · charge · hand · field · cell

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. charge — electricity
  3. row — a line
  4. cell — a phone
  5. hand — help
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — to paddle
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — for sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. game — wild animals
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cell — in biology
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. charge — a price
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. plane — a tool
  23. game — a match
  24. plane — an aircraft

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