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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: land · season · chest · nail · leaves · plane · row · roll

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. land — ground
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. plane — a tool
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. roll — a cake
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. land — to come down
  12. row — a line
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. chest — of your body
  16. season — of the year
  17. row — to paddle
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. chest — a box
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. roll — a list
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. land — a country

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