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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 120 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: cell · pop · land · chest · spring · kick · tube · plane

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. kick — in football
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pop — to visit
  7. plane — a tool
  8. tube — the underground
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. cell — a phone
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. pop — music
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — the season
  16. chest — of your body
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. cell — in biology
  19. spring — a coil
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pop — soda
  22. tube — a container
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. chest — a box

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