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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 so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. staff — a stick
  3. date — the fruit
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. race — humankind
  8. chest — of your body
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — to trim
  12. dip — to sink
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — the arms race
  17. fork — in a road
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. saw — the tool
  20. staff — employees
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. staff — employees
  24. date — on the calendar

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