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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: bear · date · ground · fork · band · mate · arm · land

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  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. fork — to eat with
  2. mate — a partner
  3. band — a ring
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. land — ground
  7. mate — a friend
  8. land — a country
  9. ground — a position
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. fork — in a road
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. ground — the earth
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. mate — to breed
  16. band — a music group
  17. land — to come down
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. ground — crushed
  22. bear — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. date — the fruit

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