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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — certain
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. kid — child
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. track — a song
  13. track — to keep track
  14. chest — a box
  15. track — a path
  16. last — finally
  17. kid — to tease
  18. chest — of your body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — the animal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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