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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · plane · squash · craft · land · board · bat · mark

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. craft — boats
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. land — ground
  9. mark — a trace
  10. plane — a tool
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — to come down
  17. cold — not warm
  18. board — to get on
  19. squash — the sport
  20. board — a committee
  21. cold — an illness
  22. craft — a skill
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. mark — a grade

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