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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. date — the fruit
  3. chair — a leader
  4. rock — music
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. prune — to trim
  8. land — ground
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. hand — help
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bore — to drill
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. mine — for digging
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. rock — a stone
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bore — to tire
  24. land — a country

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