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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bound — obliged
  4. shower — rain
  5. file — a line of people
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. snap — to click
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. key — in music
  16. file — a document
  17. clip — for paper
  18. file — a tool
  19. bound — tied together
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bound — certain
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. key — the most important part
  24. clip — a video

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