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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: plane · clip · roll · kid · pitch · court · land · snap

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. court — for sport
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. land — ground
  6. court — of a king
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. roll — a cake
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. clip — a video
  14. kid — child
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. court — of law
  17. kid — to tease
  18. snap — to click
  19. roll — a list
  20. land — to come down
  21. pitch — completely
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. land — a country
  24. plane — in geometry

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