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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: mine · lash · plane · key · rash · fork · date · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. key — in music
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. key — for a lock
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. fork — in a road
  9. key — the most important part
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cold — not warm
  12. plane — a tool
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. rash — a series
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. date — the fruit
  24. fork — to eat with

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