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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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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: cue · mate · fine · bore · wind · mine · kid · date

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bore — to drill
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. mate — to breed
  10. fine — all right
  11. cue — a signal
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. date — the fruit
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bore — to tire
  16. wind — moving air
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kid — child
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cue — a hint
  22. cue — for pool
  23. mine — for digging
  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