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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: net · tube · board · plane · cold · wound · race · season

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. net — in sport
  4. tube — the underground
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — a container
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — for catching
  12. race — humankind
  13. wound — an injury
  14. season — in sport
  15. board — to get on
  16. plane — a tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. season — of the year
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. season — to add flavour

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