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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 just a dried plum.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. face — part of the head
  3. date — the fruit
  4. chest — of your body
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. march — music
  8. prune — to trim
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. prune — to trim
  11. march — the month
  12. face — to confront
  13. snap — to click
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. march — the month
  18. face — to point toward
  19. content — the amount
  20. chest — of your body
  21. content — happy
  22. chest — a box
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. swing — to play on

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