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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: kick · mine · stand · mark · mate · date · field · bark

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mate — to breed
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mark — a trace
  6. stand — to bear
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bark — to shout
  10. kick — in football
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mate — a partner
  15. date — the fruit
  16. field — farmland
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. field — for sport
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — a subject

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