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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: field · wave · spring · bat · mate · trunk · date · spell

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. spell — a short time
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. spring — the season
  5. mate — a friend
  6. field — for sport
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. spring — a coil
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — of water
  12. spell — magic
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. spell — letters
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. mate — a partner
  22. field — a subject
  23. date — the fruit
  24. field — farmland

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