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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. stem — to come from
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. shower — to wash
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. shower — rain
  10. game — a match
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cap — a lid
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cap — a hat
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. cap — of ice
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stem — of a plant
  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