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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: pound · trunk · date · clip · mark · stand · deal · mine

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. date — the fruit
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. clip — a video
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pound — a weight

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