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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
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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: rest · roll · net · saw · date · mine · kid · bark

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rest — what's left
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. roll — a cake
  7. mine — for digging
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — in sport
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bark — to shout
  13. rest — what's left
  14. date — the fruit
  15. kid — to tease
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. rest — a break
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. kid — child
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. roll — a list

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