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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: drill · club · spring · land · roll · patient · plane · row

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. row — to paddle
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a list
  5. spring — the season
  6. row — a line
  7. drill — army training
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. roll — a cake
  11. land — to come down
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. drill — a practice
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. club — for dancing
  16. drill — the tool
  17. plane — a tool
  18. land — a country
  19. spring — a coil
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. club — for golf
  23. spring — of water
  24. club — a group

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