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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: ball · date · bound · hand · ground · spring · rush · fork

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. spring — the season
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — obliged
  16. fork — in a road
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. ball — a dance
  22. spring — of water
  23. hand — in cards
  24. ground — a position

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