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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: drill · mine · toast · file · spring · mate · hide · rush

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. mate — a friend
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rush — hurry
  9. spring — the season
  10. drill — army training
  11. file — a document
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. drill — a practice
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. file — a tool
  16. mine — for digging
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. drill — the tool
  21. toast — bread
  22. spring — a coil
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spring — of water

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