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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
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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: mine · hide · spring · date · content · trunk · bark · drill

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. content — happy
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. content — the amount
  12. date — the fruit
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spring — a coil
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. spring — the season
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bark — to shout
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. spring — of water
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. mine — belonging to me

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