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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: date · drill · plane · net · kid · roll · current · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. drill — the tool
  3. net — after costs
  4. roll — a list
  5. drill — army training
  6. present — the time now
  7. current — electric
  8. present — there
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. current — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. net — in sport
  15. kid — to tease
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. plane — a tool
  18. net — for catching
  19. kid — child
  20. date — the fruit
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. drill — a practice
  24. roll — a cake

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