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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 120 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: bowl · plane · field · land · squash · cabinet · dip · ground

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. land — a country
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. squash — to crush
  5. ground — a position
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. squash — the sport
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — farmland
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. land — ground
  21. field — a subject
  22. plane — a tool
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. land — to come down

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