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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: spring · pop · ground · fan · mine · clip · net · date

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. ground — the earth
  3. net — for catching
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spring — the season
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. ground — crushed
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. ground — a position
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. spring — of water
  15. net — in sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. mine — for digging
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. clip — a video
  23. net — after costs
  24. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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