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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. band — a music group
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. rest — what's left
  5. drill — a practice
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. drill — army training
  10. content — the amount
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. rest — a break
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. drill — the tool
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. branch — a division
  21. rest — what's left
  22. game — a match
  23. band — a ring
  24. game — wild animals

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