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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
468
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 · chair · wake · net · mate · trunk · scale

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. mate — a partner
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. net — for catching
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. chair — a leader
  9. scale — size or range
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. net — in sport
  13. cold — not warm
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. wake — a trail
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. cold — an illness
  21. scale — in music
  22. net — after costs
  23. plane — a tool
  24. chair — a professorship

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