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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. object — an aim
  3. date — the fruit
  4. file — a document
  5. roll — a list
  6. roll — a cake
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rash — hasty
  10. file — a tool
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. hand — in cards
  15. hand — help
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. file — a line of people
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — a thing
  21. rash — a series
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. wound — an injury

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