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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chair — a leader
  3. bear — the animal
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. file — a tool
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. stock — shares
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a dance
  20. bear — the animal
  21. stock — goods
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chair — to sit 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