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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: hand · lie · cold · plane · net · foot · field · game

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. game — wild animals
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. field — a subject
  5. plane — a tool
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — for catching
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. field — farmland
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cold — an illness
  17. foot — a measure
  18. game — a match
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. field — for sport
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — after costs

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