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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: spring · mate · bowl · kid · land · bank · net · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bank — for money
  4. spring — of water
  5. mate — a partner
  6. net — after costs
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. kid — to tease
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — the season
  16. mate — to breed
  17. land — ground
  18. mate — a friend
  19. net — for catching
  20. spring — a coil
  21. net — in sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — of a river

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