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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: chest · plane · shower · season · track · fall · sharp · racket

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. shower — to wash
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chest — of your body
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. fall — the season
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. season — of the year
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. chest — of your body
  13. sharp — clever
  14. plane — a tool
  15. shower — rain
  16. season — in sport
  17. track — a path
  18. chest — a box
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a song
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. racket — a loud noise

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