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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 · mine · fork · net · land · squash · patient

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. roll — a cake
  3. net — in sport
  4. plane — a tool
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fork — in a road
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. squash — the sport
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. land — a country
  13. net — for catching
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. land — to come down
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. roll — a list
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. net — after costs
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. squash — to crush

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