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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: drill · date · bear · hand · scale · net · chip · mine

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bear — the animal
  3. net — after costs
  4. scale — in music
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. hand — in cards
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. chip — to eat
  14. net — in sport
  15. bear — the animal
  16. chip — for betting
  17. net — for catching
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hand — help
  21. drill — a practice
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. chip — in a computer

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