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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: wound · cell · perch · last · rush · land · date · plane

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. cell — a phone
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. land — to come down
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cell — in biology
  10. date — the fruit
  11. last — to go on
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — ground
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. perch — the fish
  23. land — a country
  24. cell — in a prison

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