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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: wound · land · fork · lash · band · net · ground · key

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. key — in music
  4. key — the most important part
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. net — after costs
  10. key — for a lock
  11. band — a music group
  12. land — to come down
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. net — for catching
  19. land — a country
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fork — in a road
  23. net — in sport
  24. wound — an injury

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