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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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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: date · cold · bank · mine · field · snap · firm · stick

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. firm — a company
  3. cold — an illness
  4. field — for sport
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. snap — to click
  7. bank — for money
  8. firm — steady
  9. firm — decided
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. field — farmland
  12. mine — for digging
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bank — of a river
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. bank — for money
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. field — a subject
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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