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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: land · plane · cell · temple · chest · can · prune · spell

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. spell — letters
  3. land — ground
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cell — a phone
  6. can — to be able to
  7. spell — magic
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. chest — of your body
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. cell — in biology
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. spell — a short time
  14. prune — to trim
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. prune — to trim
  17. chest — of your body
  18. plane — a tool
  19. land — a country
  20. can — a tin
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. land — to come down
  23. chest — a box
  24. can — a tin

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