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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. foot — a measure
  5. kid — child
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. hand — help
  8. wax — to grow
  9. land — a country
  10. kid — to tease
  11. land — ground
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hand — in cards
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. land — to come down
  22. squash — to crush
  23. deal — to handle
  24. foot — the bottom

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