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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ground — the earth
  3. date — the fruit
  4. bank — for money
  5. bank — for money
  6. mine — for digging
  7. last — to go on
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cap — a hat
  11. spring — the season
  12. bank — of a river
  13. last — final
  14. cap — a lid
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spring — of water
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. ground — a position
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spring — a coil
  24. last — finally

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