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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 · roll · fan · prune · pop · hand · field · game

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pop — music
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. roll — a list
  6. plane — a tool
  7. hand — help
  8. pop — soda
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. field — a subject
  11. pop — to visit
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. game — wild animals
  14. field — farmland
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. field — for sport
  19. roll — a cake
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. game — a match
  23. hand — in cards
  24. prune — to trim

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