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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: plane · wound · bark · fan · wind · wake · ball · chest

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. ball — a great time
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wound — an injury
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bark — to shout
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wake — a trail
  19. chest — a box
  20. ball — a dance
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. plane — a tool
  24. chest — of your body

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