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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: wind · lean · wake · date · mine · snap · bore · fine

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. bore — to tire
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. mine — for digging
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. fine — high quality
  8. wind — moving air
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bore — to drill
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wake — a trail
  17. date — the fruit
  18. snap — to click
  19. lean — to bend
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. lean — thin
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — before a funeral

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