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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. mate — a friend
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. mate — a partner
  5. date — the fruit
  6. bound — tied together
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bound — obliged
  9. cell — in biology
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — to paddle
  12. file — a document
  13. cell — a phone
  14. mate — to breed
  15. kid — child
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. row — a line
  18. kid — to tease
  19. bound — certain
  20. fork — in a road
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cell — in a prison

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