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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: hide · kick · mine · tear · date · game

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. game — a match
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. kick — in football
  9. date — the fruit
  10. game — wild animals
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. tear — to rip
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mine — for digging
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — a thrill

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