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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · leaves · mine · date · clip · spring · fork · race

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. spring — of water
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. race — a contest
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. mine — for digging
  14. date — the fruit
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. race — the arms race
  19. clip — a video
  20. hand — help
  21. fork — in a road
  22. race — humankind
  23. hand — in cards
  24. mine — an explosive

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