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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 120 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: fork · fine · mine · spell · trunk · game · net · band

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. fork — in a road
  3. band — a ring
  4. game — a match
  5. mine — for digging
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. net — for catching
  10. spell — magic
  11. fine — high quality
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. game — wild animals
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. spell — a short time
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. fine — all right
  19. band — a music group
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. net — in sport
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. spell — letters

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