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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: club · swing · lie · plane · land · cold · nail · degree

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lie — to recline
  8. swing — to play on
  9. club — for dancing
  10. degree — temperature
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. club — a group
  13. swing — music
  14. land — to come down
  15. cold — not warm
  16. degree — from a university
  17. plane — a tool
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. club — for golf
  21. land — a country
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — an illness
  24. degree — an amount

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