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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: land · mine · racket · date · squash · trunk · ground · sharp

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. date — the fruit
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. land — a country
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. ground — a position
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. ground — crushed
  15. land — to come down
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. ground — the earth
  19. squash — to crush
  20. mine — for digging
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. land — ground
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. racket — a loud noise

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