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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 120 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 · patient · content · hand · race · stem · bat · fall

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  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. race — a contest
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. hand — in cards
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — to come from
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — the amount
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. race — humankind
  13. fall — to drop
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. hand — help
  18. plane — a tool
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fall — the season
  22. race — the arms race
  23. content — happy
  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