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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: fan · plane · bark · can · mine · saw · row · chest

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. plane — a tool
  5. chest — of your body
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bark — to shout
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. chest — a box
  13. row — to paddle
  14. can — a tin
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. saw — the tool
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — a line
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. can — to be able to
  21. mine — for digging
  22. can — a tin
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. saw — the tool

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