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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: racket · wake · degree · chest · fall · plane · march · bat

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. fall — to drop
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. wake — a trail
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. plane — a tool
  11. fall — the season
  12. march — the month
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. chest — of your body
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. march — music
  20. fall — to drop
  21. degree — an amount
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. degree — from a university
  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