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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: spring · squash · mine · plane · clip · pit · bark · land

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. plane — a tool
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. squash — to crush
  5. clip — for paper
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. mine — for digging
  8. spring — of water
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. land — to come down
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. clip — a video
  14. squash — the sport
  15. pit — in a race
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pit — a hole
  19. land — ground
  20. spring — the season
  21. bark — to shout
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. land — a country
  24. bark — of a tree

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