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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bear — the animal
  7. hand — help
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cold — not warm
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bear — the animal
  20. file — a line of people
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. deal — to handle

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