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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cold · season · wind · rock · fall · mine · tube

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — for digging
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. fall — to drop
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tube — the underground
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rock — music
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. plane — a tool
  14. fall — the season
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. fall — to drop
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. season — in sport
  22. rock — a stone
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. tube — a container

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