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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: bowl · plane · date · mine · charge · land · spring · drill

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. land — a country
  3. charge — a price
  4. spring — a coil
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. charge — electricity
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — the season
  11. plane — a tool
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. drill — a practice
  16. date — the fruit
  17. land — ground
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. charge — in control
  20. land — to come down
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. drill — army training
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. spring — of water

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