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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 · present · mate · saw · bat · shower · plane · mine

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. mine — for digging
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. plane — a tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. present — the time now
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. present — a gift
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spring — the season
  21. present — there
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mine — an explosive

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