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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — goods
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. lean — to bend
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bore — to drill
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. stock — shares
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. bore — to tire
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wind — moving air
  21. lean — thin
  22. chair — a leader
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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