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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: ground · date · mine · present · kid · spring · band · wave

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — there
  5. ground — a position
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. date — the fruit
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spring — of water
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. band — a ring
  16. spring — the season
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — child
  21. spring — a coil
  22. present — a gift
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. band — a music group

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