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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: mine · plane · clip · fall · bound · saw · race · cell

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. saw — the tool
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. fall — the season
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — the arms race
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bound — certain
  15. race — humankind
  16. bound — tied together
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — a video
  22. mine — for digging
  23. plane — a tool
  24. bound — obliged

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