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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. track — a path
  3. hand — help
  4. track — a song
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hand — in cards
  7. land — a country
  8. object — an aim
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. date — the fruit
  16. land — ground
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. object — a thing
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — a phone
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. object — to protest
  23. land — to come down
  24. rush — hurry

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