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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: net · lean · club · march · saw · plane · cold · field

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. club — for golf
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. net — after costs
  5. field — for sport
  6. march — the month
  7. lean — thin
  8. net — for catching
  9. club — for dancing
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. club — a group
  13. field — a subject
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lean — to bend
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. plane — a tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — in sport

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