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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: chest · land · rush · date · plane · net · coach · court

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. chest — of your body
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. land — a country
  8. court — of a king
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. court — for sport
  11. chest — a box
  12. land — to come down
  13. court — of law
  14. net — for catching
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. date — the fruit
  18. net — after costs
  19. plane — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. land — ground
  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