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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 116 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: bulb · trunk · fan · game · drill · fork · mine · ground

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. drill — army training
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mine — for digging
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. game — wild animals
  13. bulb — for light
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. fork — in a road
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. ground — a position
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bulb — for light
  24. ground — the earth

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