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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: pitcher · last · chest · object · spring · swing · bowl · plane

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. spring — the season
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. plane — a tool
  9. last — finally
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. swing — in golf
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. object — a thing
  17. spring — of water
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. swing — music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — a box
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. swing — to play on

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