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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: mark · hand · tube · mine · cold · date · dip · land

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. land — a country
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. land — to come down
  7. dip — to sink
  8. cold — not warm
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mine — for digging
  11. tube — a container
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — the underground
  16. land — ground
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. date — the fruit
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. hand — help
  24. dip — a sauce

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