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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. pop — soda
  3. field — farmland
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. sharp — clever
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pop — to visit
  11. field — for sport
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pop — music
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. mine — for digging
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. field — a subject

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