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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 116 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: chair · hand · club · net · land · mine · current · plane

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — ground
  3. mine — for digging
  4. hand — in cards
  5. land — a country
  6. chair — a leader
  7. net — in sport
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. club — for golf
  10. land — to come down
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. club — a group
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. current — electric
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. plane — a tool
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. current — of water
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. hand — help
  23. current — happening now
  24. club — for dancing

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