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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. file — a tool
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. kick — in football
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. file — a line of people
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. last — to go on
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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