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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: rush · mine · mark · cell · wound · land · last · fork

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. mark — a grade
  3. last — to go on
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. land — ground
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. last — final
  11. land — to come down
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — finally
  14. rush — hurry
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — for digging
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mark — a trace
  20. cell — a phone
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. cell — in biology

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