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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: mine · pound · fork · pit · fan · bat · last · wound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pound — a weight
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pit — in a race
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. last — finally
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. last — to go on
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pit — a hole
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. last — final
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. pound — to hit hard

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