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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: prune · game · mate · spring · mine · ground · bowl · hand

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. spring — the season
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. ground — the earth
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. prune — to trim
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. spring — a coil
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. spring — of water
  20. game — a match
  21. ground — a position
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mate — a partner

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