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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: stand · plane · field · fan · chest · rule · bat · net

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — farmland
  3. net — for catching
  4. field — a subject
  5. stand — to bear
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rule — government
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. net — in sport
  11. chest — a box
  12. net — after costs
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — a tool
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. field — for sport
  24. rule — a law

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