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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 · toast · date · kid · bound · lie · shower · net

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bound — tied together
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bound — obliged
  5. net — after costs
  6. bound — certain
  7. land — to come down
  8. date — the fruit
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. kid — child
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. land — ground
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. toast — bread
  20. land — a country
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. shower — rain
  23. lie — to recline
  24. toast — the most admired

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