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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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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 · fall · pitch · perch · staff · club · ground

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. ground — crushed
  3. fall — to drop
  4. staff — a stick
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. club — for golf
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. fall — to drop
  12. cold — an illness
  13. perch — the fish
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. club — a group
  16. fall — the season
  17. pitch — completely
  18. plane — a tool
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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