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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: plane · bound · trunk · spring · row · hand · pitch · dip

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. bound — tied together
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. row — a line
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. spring — the season
  9. hand — in cards
  10. dip — to sink
  11. plane — a tool
  12. bound — obliged
  13. hand — help
  14. bound — certain
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. spring — of water
  18. row — to paddle
  19. pitch — completely
  20. spring — a coil
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. plane — in geometry

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