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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: land · date · net · spring · lash · pitch · sharp · mate

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pitch — completely
  5. sharp — clever
  6. spring — a coil
  7. date — the fruit
  8. mate — a partner
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. net — in sport
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — for catching
  13. mate — to breed
  14. land — to come down
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. spring — of water
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. land — a country
  23. net — after costs
  24. date — on the calendar

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