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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: season · net · root · land · spring · arm · fan · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. spring — of water
  3. net — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. root — of a word
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. root — of a plant
  9. net — for catching
  10. date — the fruit
  11. spring — the season
  12. root — the cause
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. net — after costs
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. land — to come down
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. season — in sport
  21. spring — a coil
  22. season — of the year
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. date — on the calendar

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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