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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: present · saw · squash · tube · land · hand · date · spring

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. date — the fruit
  4. land — ground
  5. squash — the sport
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. hand — help
  8. tube — a container
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. spring — a coil
  11. tube — the underground
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — of water
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spring — the season
  17. squash — to crush
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. hand — in cards
  23. land — a country
  24. saw — the tool

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