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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — for sport
  5. court — for sport
  6. tube — a container
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. field — farmland
  9. fork — in a road
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. court — of a king
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. field — a subject
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — of law
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. fork — a garden tool

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