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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rock · plane · land · mine · field · cold · chest · arm

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. land — a country
  7. cold — an illness
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. chest — a box
  10. plane — a tool
  11. rock — a stone
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. land — ground
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. mine — for digging
  22. field — for sport
  23. land — to come down
  24. rock — music

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