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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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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: fork · clip · cell · mine · wound · kid · wave · date

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. fork — in a road
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. date — the fruit
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kid — child
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wave — with your hand

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