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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: can · game · last · spring · ball · mine · mate · stem

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. spring — the season
  3. last — final
  4. mate — to breed
  5. game — a match
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. can — a tin
  10. ball — a great time
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. spring — a coil
  13. mate — a partner
  14. mine — for digging
  15. game — wild animals
  16. last — finally
  17. stem — to come from
  18. mate — a friend
  19. spring — of water
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. can — to be able to
  23. can — a tin
  24. last — to go on

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