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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: last · mine · spring · file · saw · lash · bass · mate

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. spring — the season
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. mate — a friend
  7. last — finally
  8. file — a document
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. saw — the tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mate — to breed
  19. spring — a coil
  20. file — a tool
  21. bass — low music
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bass — the fish
  24. mine — for digging

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