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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: season · cap · fork · land · cell · spring · mine · lash

  1. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. land — ground
  5. cap — a hat
  6. land — a country
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — of water
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cell — in biology
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. spring — the season
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. season — of the year
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. land — to come down
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. cell — in a prison

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