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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: plane · last · scale · squash · mine · perch · pitch · tear

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. squash — the sport
  6. last — finally
  7. tear — to rip
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. tear — from crying
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. tear — from crying
  12. scale — size or range
  13. last — final
  14. mine — for digging
  15. plane — a tool
  16. scale — in music
  17. pitch — completely
  18. squash — to crush
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. scale — for weighing

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