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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. spell — letters
  3. bass — the fish
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. kick — in football
  8. bat — the animal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. spell — magic
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. root — the cause
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. root — of a plant
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bass — low music
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. root — of a word

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