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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 · lean · field · pop · deal · cold · rash · current

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. field — farmland
  3. current — happening now
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lean — to bend
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. cold — not warm
  9. current — electric
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. pop — soda
  13. deal — to handle
  14. plane — a tool
  15. lean — thin
  16. pop — to visit
  17. rash — a series
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. pop — music
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. current — of water
  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