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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: last · plane · lean · march · tear · net · cold · game

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. game — a match
  3. last — final
  4. lean — thin
  5. plane — a tool
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — an illness
  9. net — for catching
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — finally
  15. tear — from crying
  16. game — wild animals
  17. tear — to rip
  18. last — to go on
  19. lean — to bend
  20. net — in sport
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. net — after costs
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. march — the month

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