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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 120 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: scale · deal · plane · lie · saw · row · press · cell

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. saw — the tool
  4. press — to push
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. plane — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. press — a publisher
  10. cell — in biology
  11. row — to paddle
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. scale — size or range
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. deal — to handle
  17. scale — in music
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. lie — to recline
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. press — newspapers
  23. row — a line
  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