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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: deal · bass · cold · cabinet · mine · fan · date · fork

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bass — low music
  3. mine — for digging
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. date — the fruit
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. bass — the fish
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. deal — to handle
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — an illness

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