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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: roll · calf · hand · lean · mine · bat · wound · plane

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lean — to bend
  4. hand — in cards
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. roll — a list
  7. wound — an injury
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. plane — a tool
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. mine — for digging
  16. lean — thin
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. roll — a cake
  22. hand — help
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. roll — on a roll

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