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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
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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: stem · plane · file · march · hand · fan · racket · mine

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. march — the month
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. file — a tool
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. stem — to come from
  10. file — a line of people
  11. mine — for digging
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. plane — a tool
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. march — music
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the 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