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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — to confront
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. key — for a lock
  6. branch — a division
  7. face — part of the head
  8. field — for sport
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. last — finally
  11. mate — a partner
  12. chest — a box
  13. mate — to breed
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. chest — of your body
  16. face — to point toward
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. mate — a friend
  20. last — final
  21. key — in music
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. key — the most important part
  24. last — to go on

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