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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. march — music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. land — ground
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. bat — the animal
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. march — the month
  17. snap — to click
  18. march — the month
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. date — the fruit
  24. racket — a loud noise

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