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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 116 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 · bowl · bank · wake · snap · band · mine · last

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. land — to come down
  5. bank — for money
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. last — final
  9. snap — to click
  10. bank — for money
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. land — a country
  14. band — a ring
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. land — ground
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bank — of a river
  21. last — to go on
  22. band — a music group
  23. last — finally
  24. wake — a trail

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