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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: staff · fine · mine · mark · cold · field · nail · spring

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mark — a trace
  3. spring — of water
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. staff — employees
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — the season
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fine — high quality
  10. staff — a stick
  11. field — farmland
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fine — all right
  14. field — a subject
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. spring — a coil
  18. mark — a grade
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. staff — employees

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