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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: fine · spring · mine · hand · mate · cue · jam · field

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  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. fine — high quality
  2. hand — help
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cue — a hint
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. hand — in cards
  9. spring — the season
  10. cue — a signal
  11. mate — a friend
  12. field — for sport
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. mate — to breed
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spring — a coil
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. cue — for pool
  22. mate — a partner
  23. fine — all right
  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