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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
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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: patient · land · bat · wind · date · mine · bulb · saw

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. saw — the tool
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bulb — for light
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. land — to come down
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — the animal
  12. land — a country
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — for digging
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — for light
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. date — the fruit
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wind — to turn a key

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