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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: nail · bat · kid · bound · land · date · net · season

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. land — to come down
  4. net — in sport
  5. bat — the animal
  6. net — for catching
  7. date — the fruit
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bound — tied together
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. kid — to tease
  13. season — in sport
  14. kid — child
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bound — obliged
  18. net — after costs
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. land — ground
  21. bound — certain
  22. season — of the year
  23. land — a country
  24. bat — for baseball

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