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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: date · band · root · land · dip · ground · net · spring

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a ring
  4. spring — of water
  5. ground — a position
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. net — in sport
  8. land — to come down
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. root — the cause
  12. net — for catching
  13. ground — the earth
  14. net — after costs
  15. date — the fruit
  16. ground — crushed
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. spring — the season
  20. root — of a word
  21. land — ground
  22. root — of a plant
  23. band — a music group
  24. spring — a coil

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