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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: plane · kid · cold · club · cell · ball · ground · tube

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ground — the earth
  3. club — for golf
  4. plane — a tool
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cell — in biology
  8. kid — to tease
  9. tube — the underground
  10. club — a group
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ground — a position
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tube — a container
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. club — for dancing
  24. tube — in a tire

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